Teen Titans: The Second Curse
by IndigoJane92
Summary: This is my Teen Titans Fanfic. Note: There is no First Curse, this is not a sequel to anything. It sort of picks up where the original story line from the cartoon left off. Terra was just such a fascinating character, I couldn't resist giving her a proper story! Hope you enjoy! :D
1. Prologue

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic- PROLOGUE

A/N: This is a Teen Titans fanfic. It involves an OC and eventually a BB/OC pairing. It picks up after the Raven Apocalypse, but before the "Things Change" episode (though that will eventually be covered). Note: there is no First Curse. This is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

* * *

><p><em> Medina had always longed for a child, but was cursed with infertility. Her husband left her after years of fruitless efforts to start a family; each blaming the other for the lack of results. Medina tried all manner of treatments, everything from IVF to a different man every week, all the while praying for a miracle. Her efforts went on for 3 years, but she could never conceive. Finally, in a desperate last attempt, she turned to the Dark Arts. Medina made a deal with something she didn't understand, and she eventually paid the price. <em>

_ The Entity she contacted has no definite title, for it is impossible to describe it with something as simple as a name. Some religions refer to it as a devil, or even Satan, but it's so much more than that. It's the quintessence of all that is negative and cruel and truly evil in this world. It's what the Devil would be made of and answer to, if there were a Devil. Medina knew it was something Dark, but it offered a ritual that promised her her wishes would be fulfilled. That was all that mattered to her; she couldn't see how something that could help her could be evil. The ritual involved a fresh, male corpse being reanimated by the Entity in order to give Medina what she wanted. She was horrified by the ritual, but sure enough, a couple months afterwards she discovered she was pregnant with twin girls. The Entity, as dark as it may have been, seemed to have given her what she'd asked for and more. It only asked for one thing in return; that she name the children as it commanded. Only after their birth, did she see how fitting the names were, and she knew it was meant to be._

_ The twins were born on October 31st, and though they were twins, they couldn't have been more different. One had blue eyes and hair the bright yellow-blond color of the sun at dawn, while the other had dark eyes and black hair. She named the blonde girl Dawn, and the black-haired girl Sabbath (she never could quite figure out the meaning behind Sabbath's name, but she jokingly told herself it was an Ozzy reference and left it at that). Her friends and doctors found the babies' differing looks strange, especially since Medina herself had red hair and green eyes, but she just shrugged it off. She never claimed a father, and she never revealed her secret about the ritual and the Entity. Medina figured that, considering the manner in which the children were conceived, they would have to be special. If only she knew how special they would become. But Medina didn't care about their looks; she considered them her children and couldn't have loved them more. Medina was overjoyed to finally be a mother, but her joy was short-lived. _

_ Three months after the twins were born, Medina was found dead in her own home. Her cause of death was deemed suicide due to postpartum depression. She was found next to a Dark Arts book with a letter in her hand addressed to Dawn and Sabbath._

_ "_My dearest daughters, I love you with all my heart and I always will. Everything I have done, I have done for you. It's time for me to go, but I have faith you will be well looked after. I can't say what lies ahead, but if worse comes to worst, your father will help you. He told me you were destined for greatness and He would never let anything happen to you. He believes you both have wonderful potential. Listen to Him, my children. Listen to your dreams. He will guide you. Grow, be strong, and fear nothing. You are far stronger than you know. I believe in you.

Love,

Your mother, Medina Jane Hellingsworth_"_

_ Sabbath and Dawn went into foster care, but trouble soon arose. The girls were first adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Collins. The Collins' were an older couple who'd spent their younger years as entrepreneurs but thought that, now that they were financially secure, it would be nice to have a family. If only they knew what they were getting themselves into. As the girls grew older they began to have nightmares which grew more and more frequent as they approached their teens. Odd, unexplainable things happened around them that their adoptive parents found most disturbing. Dawn threw a tantrum on her 11th birthday and as she stomped her foot, an earthquake struck. Sabbath was given a candle set on her 12th birthday, but was told she couldn't light them without adult supervision. Having lost a house to a fire in their younger years, the Collins' kept all matches well out of reach. Yet, every time Mr. or Mrs. Collins walked by the girls' room, they found Sabbath reading by candle light. Neither matches nor lighters were ever found. It started out as just little things like that, but it soon became too much to handle. _

_ On their 13th birthday, Dawn and Sabbath awoke screaming. Used to the night terrors, but acting on instinct, the Collins' rushed in to check on them. The girls explained it was another nightmare. They couldn't remember much, but they said their arms felt like they were burning. When the pain didn't subside, the Collins took Dawn and Sabbath to the hospital. Within the hour, handprints appeared on the girls' forearms. It looked as though someone had come up behind them and grabbed them by the arms. The marks weren't any kind of ink or stain that the doctors could determine. They looked like a combination of bruises and burns. The girls rushed to assure the doctors that the Collins' had not harmed them, and that they had simply woken up like that. However, because no one could say exactly where the marks came from, and because the girls were under the Collins' watch when they'd gotten them, Dawn and Sabbath were immediately taken from the Collins' custody and put back in the orphanage._

_ After that, the strange occurrences got worse and worse. Dawn and Sabbath's night terrors disturbed the other girls in the home, as did their stories about the Dark Man that spoke to them in their dreams. The girls soon became outcasts. Sabbath and Dawn could often be seen together in the park at recess, talking in whispers and completely ignoring the other girls. Small fires would break out in Sabbath's presence, and sand castles would inexplicably collapse when Dawn walked by. Sink pipes would freeze in the middle of June while Dawn was brushing her teeth. A tree would lose all of its leaves overnight if Sabbath had been reading under it the day before. When Dawn and Sabbath fought, the sprinklers overhead would burst. _

_ When the girls were 14 they were adopted separately, since after hearing about what went on around them, even the bravest of foster parents didn't dare take both of them. Over the next two years, Dawn and Sabbath went from home to home, never staying under the same roof for more than 4 or 5 months at a time. As they grew, their powers grew stronger. The more they practiced, the stronger they became. It became clear to the girls that their powers were related to the four elements; water, fire, earth, and air._

_ Dawn was frightened of her abilities, as well as the Dark Man in her dreams who tried to get her to use them more and more. She hated to practice them, and so her control over them became erratic and she often lost control. Sabbath, however, loved her abilities. She practiced every day, as the Dark Man told her. He would show her in her dreams how to develop her powers, as well as what she would someday be able to do with them. As her strength developed with practice, she was one day gifted with a pair of large, black, bat wings. The process hurt, but Sabbath thought of it as a small price to pay for being able to fly. The Dark Man told her they were a reward for how well she listened, and that if she continued to practice, he would continue to give her gifts. _

_ Over the years, the sisters eventually lost touch with each other as they were moved from city to city. By the time the two turned 16, Dawn had run away and had been considered missing for over 6 months, and Sabbath was on her fourth foster home that year (the wings made it harder for foster parents to accept her). Sabbath's new foster family moved her to a city that already had strange inhabitants; Jump city. The new family hoped that a city that idolizes teens with superpowers might be more comfortable for Sabbath. It turned out to be the best (and worst) thing they could've done for her._


	2. Chapter 1: A Fresh Start

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic- CHAPTER 1

A/N: Chapter 1 of My OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

'_Alright,'_ thought Sabbath, as she walked down the street, kicking a pebble. '_A new city, a new start.'_

It was Sabbath's first day in Jump City. Luckily, it was April Vacation, so she wouldn't have to face a new school for another week. Her newest foster parents, Jack and Cindy Miller, thought it was the perfect time to move, though they wouldn't say why they had to move so far away (nor did they mention the city's strange inhabitants); after all, Jump City was all the way across the country from Boston. All they would say was that moving during spring break would give Sabbath plenty of time to settle in before having to rush into school. Little did they know, they only prolonged the inevitable. Soon it would be the same awkward situation all over again.

_Teacher: "Today we have a new student joining us. Let me introduce Sabbath Hellingsworth. Tell us a bit about yourself, Sabbath."_

_Sabbath: "Well, my legal name is Sabbath, but please call me 'Jane'. I just moved here from-"_

_Classmate 1: "How is 'Jane' a nickname for 'Sabbath'? And what kind of name is 'Sabbath' anyway?"_

_Classmate 2: "isn't it blasphemous?"_

_Sabbath: "It's just my name. And I chose 'Jane' because it was my mother's middle name."_

_-awkward silence at the mention of a dead parent-_

_Classmate 3: "Why are you wearing a sweatshirt in May?"_

_Sabbath: "…because. It's comfortable." _

_Classmate 4: "Why'd you transfer so close to the end of the year?_

_Sabbath: "Because I just moved here. For my father's work."_

Having to start things off with lies is uncomfortable, but nowhere near as uncomfortable it would be to explain to them about the frequent adoptions and fact that the hoodie is necessary to hide her wings (she uses make-up to cover the marks on her arms). Then would come the stares and the isolation, along with all the other perks that came with being The New Girl. Add to that trying to keep up with all new classes, learning her way around a new school and moving into another new house with new rules and new stepparents and wondering when they'll kick her out, all the while trying to hide her abilities from everyone (except her new stepparents, who already know), and it just makes things very difficult. Due to the frequent moves, Sabbath knew all too well what the next week would bring.

_ 'I wish it didn't have to be this way…' _thought Sabbath._ 'But things could be worse. The Millers are very nice people, and they really do seem to care about me. I hate having a curfew, but it's not so bad. They say that I can go out wherever I want, as long as I'm home by 6:30 for dinner, which I guess is reasonable. They also bought me a cellphone to keep in touch, which is a little clingy, but they keep saying that in a city this size, it's good to have (plus, they pay the bill). But they act as if I've never seen a city before! We moved here from Boston for crying out loud. But whatever. I still can't believe they got me a kitten though. I guess they hope I won't feel so alone if I have a pet. They think 'Robin' is a silly name for a kitten, but 'Sabbath' is a silly name for a girl. Besides, that's the name the shelter gave him. I hope Cindy remembers to feed him though. I gave him his breakfast but that can't be enough to hold him over the whole day. But then again all he seems to do is sleep, so maybe it is. I wonder how much a kitten needs to eat every-' _

CRASH!

"What was that?" Sabbath asked aloud. Turning in the direction of the sound, she began jogging down the street towards it. The crashes got louder, as well as the sound of people screaming, metal being crushed, and…roaring? Coming around the corner at the far end of the street, bits of glass and concrete crunched under her sneakers and Sabbath finally saw the cause of all the noise. She couldn't believe her eyes. Standing not 15' away from her was a monster. That was the only word for it. It was a giant rock monster. It looked like some sculptor's nightmare come to life. It was a blocky, ugly, living stone statue, and it had to be over two stories tall.

People were rushing past Sabbath, screaming in terror and dodging what appeared to be chunks of buildings and cars. The monster roared as it punched and tore down buildings and threw cars. Some people would pause in their panic and scream at Sabbath to run, but she was frozen in shock. What was this? Statues didn't come to life; there was no such thing as monsters. Was she dreaming? This didn't feel like her usual nightmares. But then Sabbath spotted something that made her snap out of her reverie.

An elderly couple was fleeing from their car as fast as they could, but Sabbath feared it wouldn't be quick enough. Forgetting about hiding her abilities, Sabbath acted on impulse. Quickly pulling her sweatshirt off and tying it securely around her waist, she stretched out her wings and took off into the air. Luckily the monster had its back to her, its attention directed at the fleeing elderly couple. Sabbath took advantage of this and flew up behind the monster's van-sized head. She'd been eating an apple earlier that afternoon, and had saved the seeds in her pocket. She wanted to see if she could make an apple tree grow in the backyard of her new house, as a sort of thank-you gift for her new stepparents. But suddenly, Sabbath had a much better idea for the seeds.

She had noticed that the monster had small crevices where its ears should have been. Not wasting any time, Sabbath reached into her pocket and pulled out the five apple seeds. Reaching around the monster's head Sabbath quickly hurled the seeds into the monster's right "ear". She closed her eyes, extended her palms out towards the monster and concentrated with all her might, trying to force the seeds to grow into a tree (the most she'd managed in the past was a pumpkin, but even that had required water. Without water, she feared this would take a lot more energy). But just when she'd felt the seeds begin to grow, she heard a voice from the ground to her right call out, "Hey, blockhead!"

The monster's attention now diverted from the elderly couple's car (the couple had by now fled the scene), it quickly turned its head to the right to investigate the source of the shout. Unfortunately, it still hadn't noticed Sabbath's presence, and its huge head smacked right into her and knocked her back a couple feet. She just barely managed to keep herself in the air, but then something else hit her from the direction of the voice with even more force. It pushed her right back into the creatures head, but the force of the second blow was so strong it caused her to ricochet off the giant rock's skull and sent her sailing through the air towards the ground. The last thing she remembered was crashing into something hard that crunched under her, and then everything went black.


	3. Chapter 2: An Awkward First Impression

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 2

A/N: This is Chapter 2 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then Chapter 1. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

"Where should I put her?"

"The couch is fine, since you don't look like you can carry her any further than that. And why are you whispering?"

"Do you want her to wake up?"

"She's unconscious; of course we want her to wake up. Careful, don't drop-!'

*_thump_!*

"Good thing the couch was there! I told you to let me carry her!"

"No way, dude! You always get to carry the girls!"

"What are you talking about? What girls have I ever carried?"

"Would you two knock it off and try to focus here?"

*Gasp* "I think she is awakening!"

Awakening wasn't quite the word for it. Sabbath's consciousness was returning, and she vaguely heard voices around her, but she didn't open her eyes. She had barely moved, but since the feeling in most of her body had yet to return, moving was difficult. But what parts of her body she could feel, she knew were injured. The hottest of the pain seemed to be coming from her back and her left shoulder, as well as her pounding head. A grimace of pain crossed her face. Suddenly, the pain in her back became too much too bear. She realized she was laying on her injury and instinctively sat up to relieve the pressure. Sitting up was a bad idea. Her dark eyes shot open with the sudden pain that coursed through her torso. Also, the sudden light didn't help her headache. Putting her right arm out behind her for support, she gently raised her left hand to her head. The motion irritated her shoulder, but her hand was surprisingly cool against her forehead.

"Uhg…" Sabbath muttered, her tongue feeling heavy. "I feel like I was hit by a ton of bricks…"

"Pretty much," chimed a voice somewhere to her left.

'_Wait, a voice?'_ though Sabbath. Then she remembered the other voices she'd heard just before she "awoke". Suddenly putting two and two together, Sabbath realized that voices meant she wasn't alone. But she'd been alone before she passed out…

Quickly dropping her hand from her eyes, Sabbath saw several oddly dressed people standing around her. They were looking down at her, which meant she was still on the ground. But when she looked down, she realized she was lying on a sofa. Sofas don't go outside. But this wasn't her house, and she definitely didn't recognize these people.

"Where…am I?" Sabbath managed to ask. She was still a little out of it. "Who are you?"

A dark-haired boy in a mask stepped forward. "You're at Titans' Tower. How badly are you injured? We would've taken you to the hospital, but…"

"But we figured you'd need more specialized medical treatment," said a girl in a blue cape, vaguely gesturing in Sabbath's direction.

"And we have the facilities here to treat you. Plus, since it was us that hurt you, we kinda figured we owed ya…" said a tall, well-muscled half-robot boy.

"'_We_' hurt her?" said a green boy, raising an eyebrow and turning to face the robot-boy.

"_I_ hurt you," said the robot-boy. He was facing her, but he couldn't meet her eyes. "But _you_ dropped her!" He continued, turning to meet the green boy's glare.

"I did not!"

"You got a twin I don't know about?"

"Please, you require medical attention," said a tall redhead, ignoring the two fighting boys. "Let us assist you as soon as possible! We shall repair your injuries at once!"

Sabbath just stared at them. "Specialized" treatment? "Titans Tower"? She'd never seen these people before in her life, how could they possibly have hurt her? The last thing she remembered was trying to save an elderly couple from a giant rock monster. The rest was a bit fuzzy, but she assumed the creature was responsible for her injuries. Although, the robot-boy's voice DID sound somewhat familiar. Where had she heard it before?

The pain in her back quickly distracted her from her train of thought. How badly _was_ she injured? Carefully, Sabbath turned to look over her shoulder, expecting to see some kind of weapon protruding from her back. Relieved to see no axes or spears, Sabbath breathed a small sigh of relief. Then she noticed her left wing hung suspiciously limp, and her worry returned. She turned her attention to her right wing, and luckily it seemed alright. She slowly flexed it, stretched out to full length, then folded it back up against her back. It was a little scraped and bruised, but at least she could lift it. Wait, wings? She wasn't at home, her wings shouldn't be exposed! Glancing down at her waist, she saw her sweatshirt still tied there and her eyes grew wide with horror. She glanced back up at the people around her. They didn't seem disturbed by her appearance, but still. Sabbath had always made a point to never expose her wings in public. Ever since that day at the group home…

She had to leave. Now. Injuries or no injuries, she had to get out of there.

"Um, thanks for everything, but I really should be going," Sabbath said as she tried to stand. Unfortunately, she was only able to take two steps before she became dizzy and lost her balance. The masked boy caught her in his arms as she fell and steadied her on her feet.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," he said, embracing her at arm's length; a look of concern clearly recognizable on his face even though his eyes were hidden. "At least let Raven take a look at you."

"'Raven?'" Asked Sabbath.

The girl in the blue cape walked over with one arm outstretched; her hand giving off a light blue glow. Sabbath flinched slightly, not knowing what to expect.

"It's alright; I'm just going to see how bad your injuries are. I might even be able to heal them completely. Just hold still," Raven said. Slowly, she ran her hand over Sabbath's neck and shoulders, then over her arms, all the while keeping just an inch or two above her skin. Surprisingly, it was soothing. The soft, cool glow from Raven's hand did seem to be healing the scrapes and bruises, and her headache subsided. It also numbed what Sabbath suspected couldn't be totally healed. However, when Raven got to Sabbath's left wing, she frowned and Sabbath winced, expecting disgust or rejection.

"What?" asked Sabbath cautiously.

"You broke a major bone here on the upper part. I can't fix it entirely. We'll have to set it…somehow…but I doubt you'll be able to use it for at least two weeks."

Two weeks? That wasn't good. Sabbath glanced over the masked boy's shoulder and out the floor-to-ceiling bay was dark out, but it hadn't been before. If it was dark out, it was probably close to 6:30. Sabbath knew she'd never make it home in time on foot; but without the use of her wings, she'd have to walk (only at night did Sabbath make an exception to her no-wings-in-public rule).

'_Crap!'_ thought Sabbath. '_I'd better call the Millers and let them know I might be late.'_

Sabbath reached into her left pocket for her cellphone, but what she pulled out was in two pieces with a cracked screen and a busted battery. Great, she broke her new cell AND she was going to break curfew. And she'd broken a wing. Could this day get any better?

Just then, lightning flashed outside, and Sabbath noticed it was pouring rain. Great. But maybe it was just the storm making the sky dark; maybe she wouldn't be late at all!

"Um, does anyone know what time it is?" Sabbath asked, glancing at the people around her.

The half-robot boy glanced down at his arm, then back at her and said, "It's about 7:15. Why?"

Sabbath felt her heart sink. "I was supposed to be home 45 minutes ago. I really need to get going," she said, and thunder boomed overhead.

The masked boy glanced at the half-robot boy, who then left the room as the green one said with a grin, "you're not going anywhere until we fix that wing. We owe ya, remember?"

Could these people be any creepier? Sabbath really wanted to leave. Between the thunder storm and the weird-looking teens, this was beginning to look like something out of a horror movie. Then again, they _were_ helping her. Maybe it was just the unfamiliar setting, along with having her wings exposed to strangers, that was setting her nerves on edge. So far these people hadn't really given her any reason to fear them, except for when they said they were the ones that had hurt her, which still didn't make any sense.

"Well…alright. But you still haven't really told me what's going on, or who you are," Sabbath said.

"We're the Teen Titans," said the masked boy.

"So are you guys, like, superheroes or something?" Sabbath asked. Did superheroes exist outside of comic books?

"Yes. My name is Robin. You-"

"Wait, 'Robin'?" Sabbath asked. "As in Batm-"

"YES." Robin replied, cutting her off. His eyes narrowed slightly.

"O…K," Sabbath said. The real Robin, as in Boy Wonder, was standing right in front of her, and all she could do was try not to giggle as she compared this boy to her new kitten at home. They were both named Robin, they both had black, puffy hair… She must have really hit her head hard.

"As I was saying," Robin continued. "You already know Raven," the girl in the blue cape blinked. "That's Starfire," he said, gesturing towards the redhead, who floated towards Sabbath and looked like she was about to hug her, but appeared to change her mind at the last second and just smiled and waved awkwardly. "And that's Beast Boy," Robin finished. Beast Boy gave a deep bow, then looked up at Sabbath and said, "Nice to meet you, milady," with a wink and a big, cheesy grin. His smile was contagious, despite the fangs (_a green vampire…? _she wondered to herself), and Sabbath couldn't help but smile back. He was kind of funny…

"And I'm Cyborg," said the robot-boy as he re-entered the room holding a first-aid kit. "Sorry about your wing; the sun was in my eyes, and I swear, I didn't see ya until it was too late! It all happened so fast…"

"It's alright," Sabbath replied with a small smile, "I've lived through worse." It was a lie, Sabbath had never really been in too many fights before, but what else could she say? He really did seem to feel terrible about what happened. "But what happened, exactly? Last I remember is being hit by something, then crashing into something else…and then waking up here."

"We got a report that Cinderblock was causing trouble, so we went to take him down," Robin said.

"'Cinderblock?'"

"The big ugly rock dude," Beast Boy explained.

"While the others went to attack from the front, I snuck up behind him," Cyborg continued. "I shot him in the head with my net cannon, but instead of hitting him, the net hit you instead. You must've been right in my line of fire. You hit the back of his head, and then crash landed on a minivan. You sorta landed on your side, which is probably how your wing and shoulder got messed up."

"But look on the bright side; when you hit Cinderblock, you knocked him off balance. Once he fell, we took him down easy! So, way to go!" Beast Boy said, giving a thumbs up.

"Um, thanks?" Sabbath said, unsure how to respond to that.

"You were unconscious when we got to you," Raven said. "We would've treated your injuries there, but it was starting to rain."

"Oh…"

"Now hold still and put your arms up," said Cyborg.

"What?"

"You can't put a cast on a wing, so we gotta set it straight and bind it tight." Cyborg explained.

"This might hurt just a little," said Raven, who had suddenly appeared behind Sabbath. As Sabbath put her arms out, Raven quickly, with hands aglow, snapped the bone back in place and folded the wing up against Sabbath's back, and Cyborg wrapped gauze around Sabbath's entire torso, keeping both her wings firmly in place.

Sabbath instinctively pulled her arms down to her sides and had just opened her mouth to cry out in pain ("Just a little"? Understatement of the century!), when suddenly Starfire was in front of her, forcing a spoon into her mouth. "Taste," she said. As if she had a choice. Whatever Starfire had just fed her, it was sticky and she couldn't dislodge it from the roof of her mouth, so she couldn't help but taste it. It tasted like a mix of sour milk, gravy, mustard, pineapple, and fish.

"GYAAHHH!" Sabbath yelled, the combination of pain and disgust completely disorienting her.

"Are you in pain?" Starfire asked.

"WHAT IS THIS? DEATH PEANUT BUTTER?" Sabbath replied around the sticky glob in her mouth, mentally ordering herself to not throw up.

"The displeasing taste is designed to distract you from your physical discomfort. You do not feel any pain, correct?"

"No…" Sabbath replied, having finally gotten the stuff out of her mouth. Although her eyes were still watering, she had long since forgotten the pain in her wing. "I'm…fine."

"Wonderful!" beamed Starfire.

"Sorry about that," said Robin. "But if we told you it was coming, it wouldn't have worked."

Sabbath wanted to argue with him, but she couldn't; she knew he was right. "Well…thank you all, for everything. But I really have to get going. As it is my parents are probably worried sick about me. So, if someone could just point me towards the way out of here, I'll be-"

*BOOOM! CRACK!*

Thunder clashed overhead, immediately followed by a flash of blue lightning. The wind picked up and was pelting the bay window with rain. The flash of lightning gave Sabbath a glimpse of the world outside, and she realized she was looking at an unfamiliar part of the city.

"You're not walking home, are you?" Beast Boy asked, also looking out into the storm.

"Of course she is not! We shall escort her through this storm in the T-vehicle!"

Sabbath really wanted the ride (she hoped the "T-vehicle" was a car of some kind. Perhaps "T" stood for "truck"?), since she didn't know where her house was from there, but she didn't want to impose on these people any more than she already had, so she said, "Oh, no, you don't have to do that."

"But it's pouring rain out there," Robin said.

"I should be able to keep a water shield up long enough to get home."

"You mean an umbrella?" Cyborg asked.

"No. I can call water to me, so I should be able to keep it away as well. Besides, water is one of my weak points and I could use the practice." Sabbath replied. She really hoped she wouldn't have to sit here and explain all of her abilities. That would take too long and she was already late. It had to be past 8 o'clock by now. She was so dead.

"'One of your weak points'?" Robin asked. "What else can you do?"

Sabbath sighed. "It's a long story, and it's easier to show than to tell. And I really don't mean to be so rude after you all have been so kind, but it's super late and my parents are gonna call in the National Guard if I'm not home soon, so…"

"We understand," said Cyborg. "But can you at least tell us your name?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Sabbath replied, realizing she still hadn't introduced herself. "It's Jane. Jane Hellingsworth." Rather than tell them her legal name and explain that she preferred to be called something else, Sabbath decided to just tell them 'Jane' was her name to avoid having to answer any more awkward, tiresome questions.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Jane Hellingsworth," Robin said with a smile, offering her his hand. Awkward, yet professional.

"It was nice to meet you, too," Sabbath said, briefly shaking his hand. "All of you. Thanks for everything!"

"We will meet again in the near future, yes?" Starfire asked.

"I'm sure you'll see me around," Sabbath replied with a smile and friendly wave as she backed towards what she hoped was the door.

"I'll walk you out!" Beast boy said eagerly. Gently taking hold of her right arm, he guided her towards the door opposite the one she'd been heading towards.

Sabbath waved goodbye to the rest of the Titans, and once she and Beast Boy were out of the room she said, "Thanks."

"Yeah, I figured you didn't know the way out since you were backing towards the storage room," Beast Boy said, grinning.

The two came to an elevator, and Beast Boy pushed the down button. It opened immediately. Once they were both inside, Beast Boy pushed the button for the ground level. As the elevator car slowly descended, Beast Boy turned to Sabbath and asked, "So where are you from? You must be new here if you've never heard of the amazing Teen Titans." He struck a pose, and Sabbath couldn't help but giggle (the tight gauze around her chest only somewhat restricting her breathing).

"My…parents and I just moved here from Boston," she replied. Sheepishly she continued, "We've only been in this city for a couple days, and to be honest, I have no idea how to get home from here."

"Why didn't you want us to give you a lift home?"

"I didn't want to ask for any favors. You'd already done more than enough for me by healing my wounds. I figured I'd stop at a gas station, use their phone, and have my parents come pick me up. No big deal."

"What if I walk you home? I know this city like the back of my hand!" Beast Boy said with a proud smile.

"You'd do that for someone you just met?"

"It's my duty as a Titan to protect the city and its citizens, or at least that's what Robin says," Beast Boy said. "But even if it weren't, I feel like I know you from somewhere. Something about you seems familiar..." Just then, the elevator reached its destination. With a soft *_ping!*_ the doors opened to reveal a vast garage. Inside there was a red motorcycle, a big blue and white car, and various car parts and tools. Directly across from the elevator was the wide garage door that Sabbath assumed the vehicles came and went through. On the side wall there was a smaller door which was probably the one for people.

Once they reached the door, Sabbath asked, "You sure you want to walk me home? I'm not sure how far it is from here…"

"Definitely," Beast Boy said. "Where do you live?"

"I'm not sure of the address, but I know it's two blocks from the high school. But I think once we get to the school, I'll know the way from there."

"Which high school?"

"Um, the cheap public one?" Sabbath offered, hoping that would help. She hadn't realized there was more than one high school in the city, but considering the size of it, it would have to contain multiple schools.

"Ok, I think I know which one you mean. Let's go!" Beast boy said, heading out the door.

Sabbath took a minute to pull her sweatshirt on (her shield couldn't block the cold) and focus her energy before stepping out into the storm. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Soon, a transparent blue dome appeared over her. It started a foot over her head and went all the way to the ground. Opening her eyes, she realized she'd have to make it big enough for two. Sabbath pushed her arms out on either side of her, forcing the dome to widen. Hoping she could keep it up long enough, she called out to Beast Boy to join her under it. He hesitated at first, unsure as to whether or not he could walk through it. Not wanting to waste any time, Sabbath reached out from under the dome, grabbed Beast Boy's arm, and pulled him in.

"Gyah!" Beast Boy cried out in alarm, afraid he'd hit a solid wall (after all, Raven's force fields were solid to everyone except Raven herself). But instead, he slid through the barrier with no trouble at all. The dome seemed to give off a deep blue, flickering glow, which upon closer inspection Beast Boy realized was caused by the rain. Each drop that bounced off the force field caused it to briefly light up where the water had touched it.

Sabbath watched with curiosity and amusement as Beast Boy slowly stretched one hand out of the force field. Sure enough, he could feel the pouring rain beginning to soak his gloved hand. Pulling his hand back into the dome, he was shocked to see it dry right before his eyes. As his hand slid through the barrier, the rain was pulled off of it; leaving his hand bone dry. Looking down at himself, Beast Boy realized he should be at least somewhat wet from the seconds he spent in the rain- but he wasn't. He hadn't even noticed before when the barrier had pulled all the water off of him as he'd entered. He checked his hands, arms, and hair, but it seemed like he'd never gotten wet in the first place.

"Wow…" Beast Boy whispered in awe.

Sabbath smiled, not used to that sort of response to her abilities. Usually people screamed, ran, yelled at her, threw crucifixes, or all of the above (one foster parent a couple years ago had actually fainted).

Suddenly, the moment was shattered as lightning cracked overhead, swiftly followed by an earth-shaking roll of thunder. With that, the street lights, as well as the lights in all the houses on the entire street, simultaneously went black. Sabbath jumped, and out of the corner of her eye, she caught Beast Boy shoot a nervous glance towards the sky.

"We'd better get going," Sabbath said. "This thing only protects against water, not lightning."

Not needing to be told twice, Beast Boy nodded and began walking quickly down the dark sidewalk, with Sabbath having to practically jog to keep up with him. The dark blue glow from the dome was dim, but it was better than nothing. Sabbath briefly considered creating a flame in her hand to better light the way, but decided against it when she realized it was better to focus all of her energy on the water shield.

After about 15 minutes of walking, Sabbath and Beast Boy finally arrived at the public high school. Luckily, this block had power, so the street lights were on.

"So…where do we go from here?" Beast Boy asked, glancing over at Sabbath.

Sabbath looked around a bit, trying to get her bearings._ 'It's strange how things can look so different at night,'_ she though. Looking to her right, she recognized a couple houses. There was that big grey house with the two different kinds of fences, the short green house with a fire hydrant in front of it, the white house with the stone wall…

"This way!" she said, pointing towards the familiar neighborhood. Once her house was in sight, Sabbath quickened her pace, this time leaving Beast Boy scurrying to keep up. Finally, the two were standing in front of a yellow and white 3-story Victorian.

"This…is your house?" Beast Boy said in amazement, gazing up at the house. It was nothing compared to Titans' Tower, of course, but it was the biggest house on the block.

"Yep," said Sabbath, with an equal amount of awe. _'Until they decide to kick me out…'_ she thought.

Shaking off her cloud of self-pity, Sabbath realized Beast Boy had turned his gaze from the house to her. "Thanks for walking me home, Beast Boy. It was really nice to meet you, but I'd better get inside before they release the hounds," she said to Beast Boy with a smile. He laughed.

"Um, I can't keep this shield up for you on your way back," she continued. "Want me to grab you an umbrella? There should be one inside under the coat rack…"

"Nah, it's fine," Beast Boy replied. Then with a grin he continued, "Check this out." Suddenly, there was a green dog standing where Beast Boy had just been. It barked at Sabbath with its tongue hanging out, and if dogs could smile Sabbath would've sworn that's what this one was doing.

"Wow…" Sabbath said in awe, much as he had done when he first saw her water shield. She crouched down a bit (as much as the tight bandages around her waist and chest would allow) to be closer to eye level with the dog, "Heh, guess that's why they call you Beast Boy?"

The dog barked again, as if in agreement. Then, without warning, the dog jumped up on its hind legs and licked the side of Sabbath's face. She recoiled and wiped at her face, laughing. '_If he weren't a dog, that would've been really inappropriate,' _she thought. When she looked down again, the dog was already at the next house. As if sensing her gaze, it stopped and turned to look at her. Taking shelter under her neighbor's huge oak tree, the dog shook itself off before becoming a boy again. Beast Boy waved to Sabbath and called out, "Come visit us once that wing's healed!" Sabbath flinched at his announcing her wings to the entire neighborhood, but considering how late it was and how bad the storm was, she doubted anyone was standing outside eavesdropping.

"Will do!" she called back, yelling to be heard over the downpour. Sabbath waved good-bye to Beast Boy, who then resumed his canine form and ran back down the street the way they'd come.

Sabbath entered the house with a smile in her face. Her happiness lasted all of five seconds until the Millers walked into the foyer, having heard the door shut. They immediately began the "do-you-have-any-idea-what-time-it-is-we-were-so-worried-about-you-why-didn't-you-call-you-are-so-grounded" lecture. Sabbath didn't bother explaining about the rock monster or the strange people she'd met, and luckily her sweatshirt hid the bandages wrapped around her torso. She told them she'd gone to the library and lost track of time. As for the broken cellphone (and the apparent eight million missed calls), Sabbath explained that she'd turned her phone off when she got to the library. Once she realized how late it was she ran out of the library and had pulled her phone out of her pocket once she was outside, but had tripped and fallen, dropping the phone. She apologized to her stepparents and reached into her pocket to produce the broken phone for evidence, but it wasn't there. _'Crap!'_ she thought. _'I must've dropped it during the whole bandage-and-death-peanut-butter-torture thing…' _Quickly trying to cover up the hole in her story, Sabbath quickly explained that the phone was so damaged that she must've thrown it out, knowing it couldn't be repaired. She said she must not have been thinking clearly in her mad rush to get home and she was very sorry. When asked who gave her a ride home, since she didn't look like she'd just run through a storm, Sabbath could finally give an honest answer (leaving out the shape-shifter), though they probably would've preferred a lie. The Millers were very Catholic, and so were a bit uncomfortable with the idea of their new daughter having power over the elements. Talking about her abilities to the Millers was like talking to them about her menstrual cycle. Feeling a bit awkward, they decided to just wrap up the conversation by sending her to her room without dinner. It was an old-fashioned and usually useless punishment, seeing as Sabbath could just wait until the Millers fell asleep and raid the fridge, but considering the day she'd had and the fact that she'd only had an apple for lunch, Sabbath wished they'd ground her for the rest of spring break instead.

However, not having the energy to argue, Sabbath walked up the stairs to her room on the third floor. Turning on the light and closing the door behind her, she looked around for a box labeled "CLOTHES". Finally finding a pair of pajamas, she tossed them on her bed. Tossing her sweatshirt over the nearest box, she proceeded to carefully peel off the bandage from around her chest and stomach. It was difficult, but she knew she couldn't ask the Millers for help. It'd be too awkward for them and too hard for her to explain how she'd gotten so hurt at the library. Cutting slits in the back of her shirts had been necessary to accommodate her wings, but she'd never expected to have to work around a broken one. Luckily, it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. First, she carefully pulled the shirt over her head (which surprisingly didn't hurt her shoulder, thanks to Raven), and then allowed her right wing to go as limp as the left one so the shirt could fall free with ease.

Now she had to figure out a way to put the bandage back on by herself. Sabbath was about to just forget the whole bandage thing when she noticed her closet door was open and an idea came to her. Tying her long, dark hair up in a bun, she shut one end of the bandage in the door and held the other end firmly over her heart. Holding her broken wing in place with her free hand, she slowly spun towards the closet door, winding the bandage around her torso. Once she was finished, she clipped the bandage in place with the small metal clasp that had held it before.

'_There,'_ she thought. _'That wasn't so bad.'_ With that, Sabbath pulled on her nightshirt, traded her dusty (yet miraculously un-ripped) jeans for her favorite pajama shorts, and turned out the lights. Sabbath crawled into bed; laying on her side so as not to aggravate her injuries. Once under the covers, she nearly screamed when her foot hit something warm and soft, but she relaxed when she realized it was just her kitten. Reaching under the blanket, she pulled the little fluff ball up to her face.

"You'll never guess who I met today, Robin," she whispered with a smile to the purring kitten as she petted him. He carefully sniffed her face and backed up, as if detecting all she'd been through that day. That and she remembered her face had been licked by a dog not 20 minutes ago. Giggling at the little critter's disgust, she let him go, though he didn't go far. Finding a comfortable place behind her knees, he circled two or three times before curling up and falling asleep almost instantly.

Too tired to even think about getting up in a couple hours to raid the fridge, Sabbath promised herself she'd have a huge breakfast in the morning instead, as well as a hot shower. As she closed her eyes, she let her mind drift back to the people she'd met today. The 'Teen Titans', they called themselves. They didn't look like the mighty beasts of the gods, not even teenage versions, but she knew looks could be deceiving. They didn't act like mighty beasts either, though. But, she figured they wouldn't assume a name like that without reason. '_I'll see them again,'_ she told herself. '_Once my wing's healed, I'll go back and maybe get to know them. They saw me as I am and didn't seem frightened or disgusted; Beast Boy even seemed to like me! Who knows, maybe I'll finally have some real friends?'_


	4. Chapter 3: A Redundant Scene

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 3 A/N: This is Chapter 3 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

* * *

><p>*BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP*<p>

The day had come at last. Sabbath knew there was no stopping it, but that didn't mean she couldn't run away from it. However, with her foster parents between her and the front door, she had no choice. Spring Break was over, and today was her first day at her new high school. True, it was her fourth new high school this year, but that didn't make it any less painful. If anything, that just made things worse.

Rolling over with an angry sigh, Sabbath reached out to her nightstand and turned off her alarm. She got out of bed and slowly stretched her arms and back. It had been a little over a week since her encounter with the rock monster and the Teen Titans, and her injuries seemed to be healing faster than she'd expected (not that she was complaining). She no longer needed the bandage to hold her wing in place while it healed, though she still couldn't bring herself to actually fly with it; it wasn't broken anymore, but it wasn't completely healed either. Sabbath figured she'd be able to use it again by Sunday, but considering today was Monday, Sunday may as well have been an eternity away.

Pushing her dark, curly hair out of her eyes, Sabbath blearily stumbled across her bedroom to the attached bathroom, going through her morning routine automatically. When she was all washed and dressed, with her hair straightened and make-up applied, she grabbed her backpack, purse, and sweatshirt and set out down the stairs towards the kitchen, still in the same dark mood she'd woken up in.

She set her bags and hoodie on the table and walked to the fridge. Sabbath was the only person in the kitchen, since the Millers were running about getting themselves ready for the day. She had a feeling she wouldn't see them until it was time to leave, since they'd explained to her the night before that they felt they should drive her to school at least for the first couple of days to "make sure she made it there alright". The Millers never seemed to totally buy her story about the library, and instead made up a different scenario in their minds. They'd convinced themselves she was mugged on her way home, which is how she lost her cellphone and why she was late coming home. They decided this somehow proved her to be incapable of traveling to and from school on her own. Parent logic, go figure.

As she sat herself at the kitchen table with a glass of orange juice, Sabbath stared at the ugly, floral centerpiece on the table ('_who puts kiwi fruits in a bouquet?' _she asked herself) and began hoping her stepparents had forgotten about wanting to give her a ride to school. Maybe they'd leave without her and she could just go back to bed and pretend this whole day never-

"Sabbath?" her stepmother called from somewhere in the house. "Come on sweetie, it's time to get going!"

Sabbath ground her teeth together and really considered setting the centerpiece on fire. Somehow, she felt it would make her feel better. But she managed to keep her composure, her fingernails nearly cutting into her palms with the effort. Giving the centerpiece one last dirty look, she tucked her wings tightly against her back - with only a minor twinge of a complaint from the left one- and pulled on her sweatshirt. Grabbing her bags off the counter, she stormed off towards the foyer where she found her stepmother waiting.

"Did you feed Robin this morning?" Sabbath asked while checking her bag, making sure she had everything she needed.

"Your father's feeding him, dear," Mrs. Miller replied.

_'He's NOT my father,'_ she almost replied. The only thing that stopped her was the fact that Mr. Miller walked into the foyer at exactly that moment, so she just let it go. She really was in an awful mood today; most likely due to nerves and stress.

"Are we all ready to go?" Mr. Miller asked with a smile. With muttered agreements, they all stepped out the door and Mr. Miller locked it behind them. The three of them piled into the family minivan and set off towards the public high school, which was only about two or three blocks down the street. Mr. Miller stopped the van in front of the school.

"Are you sure you don't want us to walk you in the first day?" Mrs. Miller asked.

"Yes…Mom…I'm very sure," Sabbath replied. She hated to refer to the Millers as Mom and Dad, but it made them happy.

"Alrighty then," said Mr. Miller. "Now remember our deal…"

"Yes, I know," Sabbath said. "I make Principle's List and go to Church with you on Sundays, and you don't make me go to Catholic school."

"That's right," replied Mr. Miller.

"We love you Sabbath! Make us proud, sweetie."

"Love you too, and I will," Sabbath said, sliding the van's door open and climbing out. Before they could say anything else, she slid the door shut and waved at them before making a hasty retreat into the front doors of the high school.

Inside the school, students everywhere were talking, yelling, and rushing around, trying to get their books and meet up with boyfriends or girlfriends before the tardy bell rang. The hallway smelled like three different kinds of perfume and two different kinds of cologne. It was so crowded that Sabbath could barely make out any lockers, never mind any helpful signs that said things like "New Kids This Way", or even "New Sophomore Office". All she could see was that the hallway seemed to branch off up ahead. Most students were going down the hallway to the left, so she assumed that's where the classrooms were and headed down the hallway to the right, hoping to find some kind of offices.

Sure enough, the school's main office was at the end of the hall, along with what looked like private offices. Sabbath figured that even if the main office wasn't where she needed to be, they'd at least be able to point her in the right direction.

Sabbath stepped into the office and was immediately overwhelmed by the smell of stale B.O. Lovely. There were two sad-looking students sitting in plastic chairs next to a door in the back of the office. Sabbath assumed that was the principal's office, and briefly wondered what those kids could've done on the first day back from vacation to get in trouble already. Turning to her right, Sabbath saw the secretary's desk. She walked up to it and the smell seemed to increase. Behind the desk sat an androgynous, overweight secretary, who was typing lazily on a computer, not bothering to look up.

"Um…" Sabbath said, trying to get the secretary's attention, but knowing if 'Sir' or 'Miss' was more appropriate. The secretary seemed not to hear her. Sabbath cleared her throat and tried again.

"Excuse me?" asked Sabbath, a little louder this time. Still no response. What did it take with this woman…or…man…or…whatever. Sabbath was growing frustrated, this…person's rude attitude not helping her already sour mood. She was about to burst the sprinklers overhead when the secretary spoke up in a voice that was quite clearly worn down by decades of smoking, heavy smoking, although it still gave no hint as to the gender of its owner.

"Name?" croaked the secretary, still not looking up from her computer.

"Sabbath, Sabbath Hellingsworth."

After a few more moments of typing and clicking, the ancient printer behind the secretary gave a few short screeches before it managed to belch out a piece of paper. The secretary took it and handed it to Sabbath without making eye contact and muttered, "You're late to first period," which was followed by a short, yet powerful round of coughing and hacking. Sabbath took the sheet of paper without even bothering to look at it as she backed out of the office.

"Um, thanks…" Sabbath mumbled, wondering how much longer she could stand the stench. Finally, she turned and flat-out ran back down the hall the way she came. Once she got back to the fork in the hall near the front entrance, she took a minute to stop and look at the paper she'd been given. The hallway was vacant now, so the secretary must be right, Sabbath was officially late to her first class. But maybe this was a good thing, maybe they'd already started class without her and wouldn't want to stop and introduce her. With a small glimmer of hope in her heart, Sabbath looked down at the paper. The ink was really light and splotchy, which made it hard to read, but she could make out the gist of it. It was a chart of her schedule for each day of the week. She glanced at the Monday column, first period is…

"Gym?" Sabbath exclaimed. _'Oh this is so not good…'_

Ten minutes later Sabbath found herself in front of the double doors that lead into the gymnasium. There had been no school map attached to her schedule, and this school didn't seem to believe in guiding signs, so she'd had to walk all around the school on her own, muttering curses the entire time. Needless to say, she was less than cheerful by the time she reached the gym. Her frustration had long since overpowered her anxiety. Taking a moment to cool down before she caused something bad to happen, Sabbath took a deep breath before yanking open the doors and walking into the gym with her head held high.

And she thought the office had smelled bad. That place was a flower shop compared to this. And not only did it smell, but the windows were dirty, the floors and walls were scuffed, the bleachers were rusty, one of the two basketball hoops was cracked (though the students seemed to be using it anyway), and one light kept flickering on and off. The class itself looked small, although it was hard to tell since they were running around playing what looked like a mix of basketball and dodge ball, sending the sound of squeaky sneakers echoing around the gymnasium. Sabbath spotted the teacher standing off to the side, blowing his whistle every so often and yelling for no apparent reason. He had thinning hair and a beer belly, and he seemed really angry. Yikes. But on the bright side, there didn't seem to be a uniform.

Not giving herself time to change her mind and walk back out, Sabbath stalked right up to the teacher and introduced herself.

"Hi, sorry I'm late. My name is Sabbath Helling-"

"YOU'RE LATE!" the teacher said, angrily turning to Sabbath as if she were some annoying pest and not his student.

"Um, yes, and I'm sorry," Sabbath tried to continue, somewhat taken aback by his sudden outburst. "But today's my first day here. I got sort of lost and-"

"Ahhh…THE NEW GIRL HUH? THEY TOLD ME YOUS WAS COMIN'," boomed the teacher. He had to have the loudest conversational tone Sabbath had ever heard, and he was clearly not the sharpest knife in the drawer. By now the entire class had stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to Sabbath and the teacher.

"Hey coach, who's that?" a boy in the class called out. Sabbath looked over at him. He looked tall, athletic, and had brown, mid-length hair. His eyes weren't too bad either.

_'Not bad at all,'_ thought Sabbath.

"NEW GIRL!" the teacher hollered back, and the class went back to what they'd been doing before. Sabbath flinched. The boy gave her a sort of sympathetic smile and turned back to the game.

"NOW," continued the coach. "GO GET CHANGED; LOCKER ROOM'S BACK THATAWAY," he said, pointing towards a short, dark hallway off the back of the gymnasium.

"But I didn't bring a change of clothes. I didn't even know I had this class until I got here and-"

"I DON'T TOLERATE SLACKERS IN MAH CLASS! PICK SOMETHIN OUTTA THE LOST N' FOUND AND BE BACK HERE IN FIVE!" With that, he turned back to the class and continued to yell and blow his whistle.

Feeling defeated, Sabbath just stared at the floor as she walked back towards the locker room. Pushing open the creaking door to the girls' locker room, she was instantly overwhelmed by the smell of multiple kinds of deodorant, dirty bathrooms, and mildew. Sabbath looked around and felt her spirits plummet. On her left was an open doorway that led to a few bathroom stalls, and set up throughout the room were several rickety set of lockers; but worst of all, to her right was a moldy group shower.

_'First of all; eww. Second, no way in hell,'_ thought Sabbath. She wasn't sure which idea frightened her more; showering with a bunch of strangers, or exposing her wings to a bunch of strangers.

Next to the entrance to the group shower, Sabbath found the "Lost N' Found" bin. Peering inside she found an incredibly small, white t-shirt, incredibly huge sweatpants, a dead spider, and one sneaker.

_'Great,'_ she thought. '_Now what?'_. Looking around, Sabbath could only see one way out of the locker room, and that lead back to the gym. So much for running away. Looking around the room, hoping for another way out, she got an idea. It was childish, and probably a little clichéd, but she was desperate. _'But I can't do it in here, or they'll think it was me.'_

Sabbath headed back towards the gym. As she walked, she focused on fire. She thought of the smell of burning wood, the roar of a raging fire, and the billowing black smoke; but most of all, she focused on the intense heat. Casually entering the gym, she continued to concentrate. She thought of how heat caused things to expand; how intense heat could cause things to explode, like the water bulbs in sprinklers. She imagined powerful flames materializing around each sprinkler, causing them to crack and burst, the water within them boiling, and-

*CRACK! CRACK CRACK! FSSSHHHHHHHH!*

All the sprinklers in the gym popped right off the ceiling, gallons and gallons of pressurized water pouring out of where they'd been. The fire alarm sounded as the useless sprinkler heads clattered to the cement floor. The bulb in the light over Sabbath's head had burst as well. Oops; oh well.

Panic overtook the class. The coach was shouting evacuation instructions, but no one needed to be told how to run out screaming. Realizing he wasn't doing any good, the coach merely pushed his way through the crowd of students, being one of the first to burst through the emergency exit. Sabbath feigned the same panic and followed suit, running out with the rest of the students, all the while wondering if that had all been too much. She'd only meant to set off the sprinklers so she could get out of class, not make them explode off the ceiling. As she ran out, she heard a pipe burst in the gym behind her. Yeah, maybe a bit much. But this way, gym would most likely be cancelled for the rest of the year.

The emergency exit had led out into the back parking lot. Sabbath stood with the rest of her class as the coach was frantically trying to get their attention so he could take attendance. Everyone ignored him, apparently too excited about what had just happened. Sabbath saw the boy brown-haired boy from earlier standing in a small group of equally athletic-looking boys. They seemed to be trying to determine who'd won the game they were playing. A nearby group of girls was discussing whether or not they thought the gym would be fixed in time for prom, and another group of girls, this one mostly blondes, seemed panicked about the questionable cleanliness of the water that had just ruined their hair. That's when Sabbath remembered her own appearance. Looking down at herself she realized she was soaked. She felt her hair and it, too, was drenched; but worse than that, it was curling. The hot afternoon sun would have everyone dry in no time, but it would also cause intense frizz. At the rate her day was going, Sabbath couldn't wait to see what second period had in store.

Compared to first period, the rest of the day passed without incident, although it was far from pleasant. Gym class had been cancelled for the rest of the year, since it would take a while to repair all the damage in the gymnasium, so everyone was assigned a study hall that period instead. Unfortunately, due to all the commotion in first period, everyone in that class had been late to second period.

Sabbath's second period class was health, which was taught by an overly cheerful old woman. When Sabbath got to the class, the teacher had stopped her lecture to introduce her to the class. It was the pretty much the same scenario she'd imagined it would be, with all the awkward questions and explanations. The only things that were different were the two facts that 1.) Sabbath was still partially soaked (and her hair was a frizzy mess), and 2.) There was a large illustration of the male anatomy sketched out on the board behind her. Although it felt like she stood in front of the class for a lifetime, it was only a few short minutes. The teacher then handed her the textbook for the course and Sabbath found her seat. Then the teacher continued on with the lecture, as if Sabbath had never interrupted.

Third period was English, and it went pretty much the same as Health, although by then Sabbath's clothes had dried and she didn't have to introduce herself standing in front of a drawing of a crotch. Geometry, history, and biology were more of the same; each with equally massive textbooks. Lunch was a bit uncomfortable, but that was to be expected. Sabbath had been "The New Girl" enough times to know what to expect, so she'd gotten used to sitting alone. She wouldn't have minded if someone came to sit with her, but, as usual, no one did. It was as if they knew she was hiding some horrible secret. They weren't exactly frightened of her, but they didn't exactly like her either.

It wasn't until the last period of the day that things seemed to improve. Sabbath had been placed in a music class. She'd never taken any kind of music classes before, and had no idea how to play any musical instruments, but she realized she wanted to learn. After she introduced herself to the class, explaining her lack of musical knowledge, she was handed the text for the course (a thankfully small workbook of sheet music). The teacher then asked her to pick an instrument. He explained to her that his class focused on the concept that, although all instruments are different, they can all make beautiful music. He seemed like a bit of a hippy, but Sabbath decided she liked him. He asked a geeky-looking boy with glasses in the front row to take her to the instrument room so she could pick one out.

"It's back this way," said the boy with a tentative smile. He was clearly shy, and his smile was nothing compared to Beast Boy's...

"Um…Sabbath?" he said, trying to get her attention. She realized she'd just been standing there like an idiot, but hearing her real name snapped her out of it.

"Yeah, sorry," she said, finally returning his smile. "And please," she corrected, for the hundredth time that day, "Call me Jane."

The boy led her back to the instrument room, beginning to think she was mentally slow. Once inside the room, Sabbath gazed around at all the instruments; everything from flutes to drums to guitars. They were used, and some of them had little scuffs or dents, but they were still perfectly useable. This school clearly had more instruments than they had students. Sabbath felt overwhelmed by all the different choices, until she spotted one instrument in particular propped up in the corner. It was a dusty, black acoustic guitar with a broken string. It also had a pink heart sticker on the front of it; some girl had clearly tried to brighten it up.

Sabbath walked over to it and picked it up. She didn't know much of anything about guitars, but from what she could see, the rest of the strings looked alright. She blew a cloud of dust off the head to reveal its shiny finish.

"Do you think the teacher could fix this?" Sabbath asked, turning to the boy.

"I think so," he said, walking over and pushing his glasses up onto his head to give the instrument a closer look. "It's not too difficult to change a string. But are you sure you want this one? It looks kind of dirty…"

Sabbath wondered if this boy had seen the rest of the school. Compared to the things she'd seen in the gymnasium and the cafeteria, a little dust was nothing. She couldn't explain why, but she really felt drawn to the instrument.

"I'm sure," she replied with a smile. "And it's not that bad; it'll clean right up."

"Alright," he said, replacing his glasses on his nose and leading the way out of the room.

As Sabbath and the boy entered the classroom, a smile spread across the teacher's face as he spotted what was in her hand.

"Ah, the good old acoustic. Nice choice, Miss Jane!" he said.

"Do you think you can fix the string?"

"Oh yeah, no problem. Stick around after class and I can fix it for you today if you like."

Normally, from any other teacher, that may have sounded a little sketchy, but Sabbath trusted him. He looked like a harmless old hippy, like someone's cool dad, and no one in the class looked even slightly afraid of him. If anything, it was _her_ they didn't like.

Sabbath smiled and thanked the teacher, and took a seat near the back row of the class. That class seemed to go by the fastest of them all. She was surprised when the final bell rang and the students made a mad rush for the door. Before she knew it, all the other students had left. She stood amongst the empty seats, packing her bag.

"Come on over, Jane," the teacher called out to her as he walked toward his desk. "Let's have a look at that guitar…"_'Does this guy know how creepy he sounds?'_ Sabbath thought to herself. Keeping her guard up, she walked over to his desk and handed over the instrument. Laying it out on his desk, the teacher began rummaging through several different draws before he produced a small, flat box and a pair of pliers. Sabbath took a step back. Without looking up at her, the teacher began working on the guitar.

"So you just moved here, huh? Must be hard for you, changing schools so close to the end of the year," he said, keeping his focus on the guitar. Having removed the broken string, he pulled a coil of wire out of the flat box and stretched it out.

She didn't know how to respond to the teacher's question, so she muttered a small "yeah…".

"I'll tell you what," he said, fastening on the new string. "Usually, students have to pay $75 at the beginning of the semester for their instruments, in case they get lost or broken. But I don't want to do the math to figure out how much it'd cost for just 6 weeks, so I'll just let you use it for free." Looking up at her with a kind smile and handing over the guitar, he continued, "Just don't tell anyone. They'd be on me about it in a heartbeat. The Man's big on money."

"Wow, really? Thanks a lot!" she replied happily, taking the guitar. She couldn't believe he'd actually referred to the school as 'The Man'. Yep, this guy was definitely a hippy.

"Not a problem," he said, turning his back to her to pack his own bags. "And there should be a case for it in the instrument room."

Taking that as her cue to leave, Sabbath went back into the instrument room, grabbed what she hoped was the right case, and left the room. Her foster parents weren't able to pick her up after school (much to their regret) because both of them worked late. Normally, she would've been thankful, but since her bag weighed a good 20lbs and she was carrying a guitar, she for once wished she had a ride.

Her house was only about 2 blocks from the school, but by the time she got there she was pouring sweat. Did this city have to be so hot? Forcing open the front door, she threw down her bag and leaned the guitar against the coat rack. As soon as she shut the door behind her, she ripped off her sweatshirt and stretched out her wings. They were a bit stiff, as always, from being cooped up all day. Plus, despite what she told people, it really was hot under the hoodie.

Sabbath walked towards the kitchen, slowly fanning her wings to try and cool off. Grabbing a water bottle out of the fridge, she held it to her forehead a moment before drinking out of it. When she raised the bottle to her lips she noticed that her sweat, combined with the fabric of her sweatshirt's sleeves, had rubbed the make-up off her forearms, revealing the mysterious handprints.

After draining half the bottle, she set it on the counter and studied the marks on her arms. They looked like they'd been burned or tattooed into her skin, and they were far bigger than any handprints she could've made herself. She never knew for sure how she'd gotten them, but the Dark Man in her dreams told her they were His marks; His way of saying, 'I control what you do and you'll do as I say. You're mine; I've got you and I'll never let go.'


	5. Chapter 4: A Bird's Eye Tour

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 4 A/N: This is Chapter 4 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

* * *

><p>Sabbath had expected her first day to be the hardest, but it turned out to be the easiest. Apparently, after her first day at the new school, everyone expected her to suddenly know her way around and understand and obey all of the school's rules. Between Tuesday and Friday, Sabbath was late to 7 different classes and had to get a pass each time, and she almost got a detention when she tried to leave school grounds during her lunch period (her previous school had had an open campus). Despite how hard everyone was on her, they all tried to convince her that they were 'letting her off easy this time because she was new'. Since when is being tackled by campus security 'letting her off easy'?<p>

Her only solace during the entire week had been music class. She was way behind the other students, yet the teacher was very patient with her. He told her to just follow along in class as best she could, but instead of doing the assigned homework she was to work on the earlier lessons in the workbook and practice. But despite how behind she was, she still enjoyed the class. It was almost hypnotic to see the entire class playing together; and Sabbath longed for the day that she too could play music like them.

At night Sabbath would stay in, trying to get caught up with her new classes, although she focused on her guitar the most. She found that she could lose hours at a time just practicing notes. Once that week when she woke up in the middle of the night from a nightmare, she found comfort in practicing the simple scales. The guitar was the only thing that seemed to make that week bearable. And finally, when Friday came, she was surprised. She realized she been so caught up in school that she hadn't tried to fly all week. Was her wing healed yet? Raven had said it would be about two weeks, and that's how much time had passed…

Once Friday night rolled around, Sabbath was itching to test out her wings. Usually she'd go for a short flight every couple days, but having gone two weeks without flying, she was really beginning to feel claustrophobic. It had been all she could think about that day at school, so she'd come up with a perfect excuse to get out of the house for a few hours that night. After dinner, Sabbath approached her foster parents and set her plan in motion.

"Hey, Mom?" Sabbath said sweetly as she helped clear the table.

"Yes, dear?" Mrs. Miller replied.

"Can I go see a movie tonight? I heard a group of girls at school talking about a really cool theater nearby, and there's supposed to be a really good movie playing tonight…"

"Which movie is that?" Mr. Miller asked, walking in to the kitchen to retrieve his jacket. He'd tossed it on the counter when he got home from work, but had been so tired he left it there.

"Oh, I forgot the name, but it's some new film about this teenage girl with a fatal disease who finds the strength to enter a marathon for charity," Sabbath said. There was no such film, but it sounded generic enough and she knew it would bore the Millers to death and get them off her back.

"That sounds interesting," Mr. Miller replied, his eyes glazing over as he retreated to the living room, his jacket forgotten once more.

"Yes dear, that sounds wonderful," Mrs. Miller agreed, slightly more enthusiastic than her husband. "Let me just get my wallet and I'll give you some money."

"Yes! Thanks, Mom; thanks, Dad!" Sabbath said, her excitement clearly showing. Running upstairs to her bedroom, Sabbath grabbed her sweatshirt off her bed. Before she slipped it on, she gave her wings one final stretch and, sure enough, not a hint of pain. She couldn't wait to be airborne again! Tucking her wings against her back, Sabbath pulled on her sweatshirt, turned the lights out, and headed back downstairs.

Her stepmother was waiting for her in the foyer. "Here you go, honey," she said, handing Sabbath a twenty. "When does the movie get out?"

Sabbath had prepared all the facts ahead of time. "It starts in about 20 minutes, at 7:30, but I'm not sure when it gets out," she replied. She left the ending time vague so she wouldn't have a set curfew.

"Are you sure you don't want a ride?"

"Yes, Mom, I'm sure," she answered, stuffing the $20 bill into her pocket.

"But you still don't have a phone, how will we know when to come get you?"

"I'll be fine, Mom. I'll probably meet some classmates there and catch a ride with them."

"Oh, OK. But if you want us to come get you, ask to use the phone at the theater, alright?"

"Will do," Sabbath said, becoming annoyed.

"Ok, dear," Mrs. Miller said, giving Sabbath a hug. "I love you!"

"I love you too, Mom, and I'll be back in an hour or two, OK? Bye!" Before her stepmother could say anything more, Sabbath walked out the door and closed it behind her. Once she was on the sidewalk, she took a deep breath of the warm night air. Then, looking around the horizon, Sabbath began looking for the darkest part of the neighborhood, as she didn't want anyone to see her take off. Conveniently enough, the school had shut down for the weekend, and it was too cheap to have security cameras or lights outdoors.

Sabbath jogged off towards the school. Looking it over, she decided the back parking lot was probably the darkest. Slowing her pace to a walk and putting her hood up, Sabbath walked casually over to the lot. Luckily, it was deserted. No loiterers or teachers in sight. Not even a janitor's car, although considering the state of the school, that last part didn't surprise her. Seeing the coast was clear, Sabbath took one quick look overhead to make sure there were no wires or other obstacles to interfere with her take-off. All she saw was a moonless sky full of stars. Sabbath smiled as she pulled her sweatshirt off and tied it around her waist. She loved nights like these. True, she loved any night she got to fly, but moonless nights were the best. The stars weren't competing against the moon's garish glow, and instead could be appreciated for their own light. Plus, without the moon, the night was darker, so she didn't have to worry as much about people seeing her.

Warm, night air hit her wings as she let them unfold from her back. The same breeze then blew a few strands of hair into her face. Usually she'd have found it annoying, but absolutely nothing could bother her on her flying nights. Tucking the stray hairs behind her ear, she bent her knees and took off straight up into the air.

The gymnasium was taller than the rest of the one-story school building, but there were several buildings in the neighborhood that easily towered over the school. In seconds, Sabbath touched down on the gym's gravel-covered roof to survey the area. Facing away from the direction of her house, she looked west towards the coast. She couldn't see the ocean, but the buildings in that direction varied in heights and seemed to lead up to a skyscraper she could just make out on the horizon. Usually, she'd have found the closest, tallest building and shot up right to the top, but since it'd been a couple weeks since she'd used her wings, Sabbath figured it was best to take it slow for tonight.

About a block away, in the direction of the sky scraper, Sabbath spotted what looked like a three or four-story office building. She took off, scattering gravel in her wake, and headed straight for it. She landed on its roof, barely missing a large ventilation duct. This roof had no gravel, but there were lots of ducts and fans similar to the one she'd almost crashed into. Peering over the side of the building facing the street, Sabbath saw that it was actually a bunch of shops all crammed into one building. Looking down the rest of the street, she saw several more markets and boutiques similar to the one she'd landed on. There was everything from a name brand purse store to a flower shop, a movie store, and even a pizza restaurant (_'With a balcony shaped like a pizza slice,'_ she thought with a grin. _'Cute.'_).

_'This must be the center of town,'_ Sabbath thought. _'I'll have to remember this place.'_

Taking off again, Sabbath decided to go a few more blocks before stopping again. Her wings weren't giving her any trouble; it was like she'd never broken one. Looking down at the city passing by below her, Sabbath found it fascinating how things looked at night when everything was closed. She sometimes liked to imagine all the shops were just for her, waiting for her arrival before they'd open their doors and show her a world totally different from what ordinary people saw during the day.

Sabbath was pulled out of her daydreaming when she spotted some familiar territory. She quickly reached out for the nearest streetlamp and pulled herself to a stop. Perching atop the light's long, curved metal neck like a gargoyle, Sabbath surveyed the destruction below. This was the place where she'd faced the rock monster, "Cinderblock", almost two weeks ago. She was shocked to see it still in such disrepair. For some reason, she'd thought the city would've fixed everything by now. But then she thought about it as she took in all the damage –which was a lot more extensive then she'd thought it was the last time she was there—and realized it would take a lot of time to repair.

Massive pieces of buildings were ripped off, dozens of windows were broken, and the street itself was stripped down to dirt. It was clear that some efforts had definitely been made to clean things up; the rubble was gone, all the damaged and destroyed cars had been towed away, and the street looked like it was being repaved (_'It must've been broken up pretty bad when that Cinderblock thing fell,'_ Sabbath thought), but there was still a long way to go. Some buildings had been stripped down to the main support beams in places, while other, shorter ones had portions of roof missing. It was like a mini natural disaster had hit just this block. Sabbath turned away and continued on her path towards the coast, guilt eating away at her.

_'If I'd just been able to stop him sooner, none of this would've happened,'_ she thought to herself. _'Yeah, apple seeds in his ear; what a great plan, Sabbath! Too bad you can't make a tree grow to save your life!'_

Sabbath then heard an echo of the Dark Man's words in her mind, causing a familiar shiver of fear to run up her spine. 'The power of destruction is so much greater than that of creation. It takes a mere handful of men to erect a house, but a hurricane to bring it down. Men can be stopped, but a hurricane cannot. Why bother with mere creation, when destruction is stronger? Do you not wish to be strong?'

_'But if creation is so simple, why does it seem so hard? And somehow it feels wrong to wreck things,'_ she continued. _'Yes, getting to use that much power is great, but afterwards, when I see what I've done, I feel guilty. Like in the school gym. I was amazed at what I was able to do almost without trying, and it felt good; but now that I think of the people who have to fix it, or who were inconvenienced by its damage…'_

Another quote from her dreams drifted into her head, as if in response. 'Guilt is a weak human emotion, due no doubt to your human genetics. It takes strength to overcome, but you are strong. And remember, men will always fear power. Would you cease developing your power because it scared others?'

Sabbath thought about that. She'd come across many people who were scared of her, but she never cared about them enough for it to matter. She couldn't imagine getting that close to someone—or rather, someone letting her get that close. Yes, she cared about her foster parents, but they were always changing. She felt that her abilities were her only connections to what she considered her real family; her dead mother, the mysterious figure in her dreams, and her run-away sister. When she was flying or practicing her powers, she somehow felt truly at home. Nothing else ever made her feel that comfortable and happy.

Her mind a jumble of thoughts and emotions, Sabbath finally reached the coast. The skyscraper she'd spotted from the city was actually out in the harbor, standing alone on a small island. And it was shaped like a T.

She found a nearby lighthouse and landed on it. It was about a block away from the skyscraper she realized must be the infamous "Titans' Tower", but she still had a pretty decent view of it. It was easily the tallest building in the city. _'But if they really are superheroes,'_ Sabbath thought to herself, _'they'd need it to be in order to get a clear view of the whole city.'_ She still wasn't sure how much of their story to believe. Maybe they were just some local millionaire's kids or something. _'Except millionaires don't usually turn into dogs or heal people…'_ she thought to herself. She hated to admit it, but they did sort of seem to fit the qualifications of comic book superheroes. But superheroes didn't really exist, did they?

Sabbath shook her head, trying in vain to clear her mind of all the confusion. She didn't know what to believe. As far as she knew, she and her sister were two of a kind. She never thought there were people like them anywhere else in the world. Until now.

In the distance, she heard a church bell toll. 9pm already? It was getting late. She'd told the Millers the movie started at 7:30, but if she stayed out until 10:00, they'd probably become suspicious. Most movies lasted about an hour and a half, so she decided it was time to head back. Taking one last look at the Tower, Sabbath jumped off the lighthouse and reluctantly flew back the way she came.

_'Tomorrow,' _she told herself. _'Tomorrow, I'll go back and visit the Titans as promised and I'll get some answers. Maybe this was all some kind of weird joke, or maybe I dreamed it…Or maybe this is all real!'_


	6. Chapter 5: The Making of an Identity

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 5 A/N: This is Chapter 5 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : ) PS. Sorry about the last version of this chapter; there were technical difficulties. Thank you, Reader (keeping you anonymous just incase), for bringing the error to my attention!

* * *

><p>There was that familiar fear again. No, it was more than fear, it was sheer terror. Sabbath couldn't see any reason to be afraid; she couldn't see anything at all. She couldn't tell if her eyes were open or closed; her surroundings were pitch black. All she knew was that it was dark and she was terrified. She felt as though she were in a large room, but something else was in there with her, taking up almost all the air and pressing down on her. Something truly Dark. Fear caused her breath to catch in her throat and her stomach to seize up into a solid knot. He was here again; the Dark Man. She couldn't see Him, but she could feel His presence all around her, suffocating her, and she could hear His words loud and clear in her head.<p>

_"You have not practiced as of late. It has been over a week since you used your powers. What good are they—are YOU—if you simply let them go to waste?"_

Sabbath knew from experience that excuses like "I've been busy" would get her nowhere. "I'm sorry," she managed to choke out. The air felt as thick as smoke.

_"Do you not wish to be strong?"_ He demanded. He asked her this a lot, and Sabbath had learned long ago it was a rhetorical question. _"As my daughter, I have given you the potential for immeasurable strength and power, yet you refuse to work for it."_ He was getting angry. Sabbath could always tell when he was angry with her; the handprints around her forearms began to burn worse than the night she'd gotten them. "_What has been given can be easily revoked."_

Sabbath's back began to tingle and sting. Suddenly she saw a vision of her own back. Her wings were rotting off and falling in scraps to the floor, leaving bloody scars in their place. "NO!" she screamed, terrified at what she saw and desperate for Him to make it stop. Her back went numb and the vision disappeared, plunging her again into total blackness, though she could still sense the anger, Darkness, and malice surrounding her, filling her lungs with every breath she managed to take.

Sabbath then got another vision. In it she saw herself, doing incredibly things. Mountains rose up out of flat ground, and then crumbled and sank at her command. She summoned rain to come and fill oceans and rivers to the brim, and then made them evaporate and form hurricanes the size of continents. At her will, she caused the stars themselves to fall out of the sky like bombs, crushing entire cities in burning gas.

"No," she said again. This was a scene He'd shown her many times before, and every time, she refused to believe it. "I can't do that…that's not me…"

_"You will do as you were created to do!"_ His voice boomed in her head. Sabbath fell to her knees and pressed her palms against her ears, ignoring the intense stinging coming from her arms. But it did no good; she couldn't block out a voice that was inside her head. Feeling beyond helpless and petrified, she felt herself beginning to cry.

The voice in her head softened, and the stinging in her arms diminished. She felt the atmosphere around her become less intimidating. Again the voice spoke to her, _"Daughter. I created you, I can help you reach your potential, but you must listen to me. Today, before you meet your 'Titans', I want you to practice your powers. And when you reach Titans' Tower, give them a show. They are not mere humans who are impressed with simple magic tricks."_

Sabbath dropped her hands from her ears, and wrapped her arms around herself. She wasn't so sure of showing her true self to the Titans. She'd never shown all of her abilities to anyone before. The only person who knew all of what she was was her sister, Dawn. Back at the tower, when Sabbath had told Robin her abilities were "easier to show than to tell", she'd just been trying to get him off her back. She never really intended to show him, or any of the others!

_"But do not reveal ALL,"_ –Sabbath's forearms burned, as if to emphasize the word and hint at its implications_—"of your secrets. The world is not yet ready for you."_

With those final words, Sabbath felt the Dark Man's presence fade. It was instantly replaced with a blazing heat, the sensation of drowning, and the sensation of falling; all at once. Logically, the three feelings could never occur at the same time. However, she'd learned long ago that there is no such thing as logic in nightmares, unless it's working against you. Just as Sabbath was about to reach the end of her plummet towards what she thought surely would be a painful death, she was jolted into consciousness, having been awakened by her own strangled screams.

_'Another nightmare,'_ Sabbath thought as she tried to catch her breath. They always ended like that, but still it scared her every single time, and she always woke up screaming and numb with panic. Surprisingly, she didn't hear her foster parents rushing up the stairs. Then she remembered their bedroom was on the first floor, two floors down from hers. '_They must not be able to hear me up here,' _she realized. Once her heart rate slowed down to that of an average human (and not that of a caffeinated hummingbird) and feeling returned to her body, Sabbath reached blindly towards her nightstand for her alarm clock. Clicking on its blue backlight, she read the time aloud.

"4:45am. Terrific." Tossing the alarm clock to the floor, Sabbath collapsed angrily back onto her pillows. It was too late to go back to sleep, but too early to get up. Pale sunlight was just barely beginning to leak in under the blinds. With nothing better to do, she closed her eyes (throwing an arm over her face to keep out the offending glow of daybreak) and thought over her most recent nightmare.

Apparently, it was important to make a good impression on the Titans, but not to "reveal ALL of her secrets." Sabbath supposed that meant she could tell them about her powers and all, but she should keep her mouth shut about the marks on her forearms, her sister, and the Dark Man.

But making a good impression meant she'd have to think up something really incredible. The Dark Man was right; she definitely needed to practice before she went to visit the Titans. The vision of her wings rotting off her back drifted back into her mind, making her shudder. Suddenly, she felt the need to make sure they were still there. Lowering her arm from her face, Sabbath sat up and looked over her shoulder. Yep, they were still there. A bit rumpled from sleep, but there.

But how could she give the Titans a "show"? She didn't want to bore them, but she didn't want to scare them either. If she just stood there, prattling off a list of her abilities, she'd sound arrogant…Sabbath decided to think it over.

By now, the sun was fully up and its light was streaming through the slats of her blinds. Knowing it would be impossible to even pretend to sleep with the obnoxious early morning sunlight invading her room, Sabbath yawned and got out of bed. She went through her morning routine as usual, her mind trying desperately to work through its morning fog to crank out ideas.

Once Sabbath reached her closet to pick out an outfit for the day, she stopped a moment, realizing today was a big day. And a practice day. Usually she wore painting clothes or workout clothes to practice. She didn't want to wear clothes like that for her official introduction to the Titans, but she also didn't want to get dirt on, soak, singe, or rip any of her good clothes. She could just wear practice clothes this morning for practice and then come home and change before going out to meet the Titans, but that would be a bit much to explain to her foster parents (Sabbath had decided not to tell them about the supposed local superheroes or her involvement with them. Her catholic, church-going foster parents always got a tad uncomfortable whenever Sabbath had tried to discuss her powers with them).

Then Sabbath had a brilliant idea; she'd go shopping for a new outfit before practice. Shed buy something cheap that looked nice, but that she didn't much care what happened to it. Plus, a shopping day with new friends from school was a perfect excuse for Sabbath to get out of the house all day! Not that she'd actually be shopping all day, or that she had any friends, but her foster parents would buy it nonetheless. And if she had to put on some kind of performance for the Titans, Sabbath decided that a good performance deserved a good costume.

Excited to actually have a plan (and to go buy clothes. No girl is immune to new clothes), Sabbath threw on the first clothes she saw. She then grabbed a small, cloth knapsack (what would have been her bag for gym) and tossed the contents of her purse inside. Lastly, she snagged her hoodie off a nearby box (she still had a bit of unpacking to do) and ran down stairs.

It was still early in the morning, around 6:30am according to the microwave, when Sabbath entered the kitchen and found her foster father sitting at the kitchen table in his pajamas with the paper in one hand and a mug of coffee in the other. '_That's right,'_ Sabbath realized. '_Today's Saturday; neither of them has work today. I can't believe they're actually awake this early on a Saturday...And they think _I'm _strange!'_

"Morning, Dad!" Sabbath said cheerfully. She usually tried to avoid calling him "Dad" or "Father", just as she tried to avoid calling Mrs. Miller "Mom". But since Sabbath was about to ask for the entire day out of the house without a cellphone and offer only a vague excuse, she decided to lay on the charm.

Mr. Miller lowered his paper and looked up at his daughter. "Oh, good morning Sabbath," he said with a pleasantly surprised look on his face. "My, you're up early. You do know it's before noon, right?" he said, teasing her. Though Sabbath tended to mentally separate herself from the Millers, and they were bothered by her abilities, they still cared about her. They figured her distance was due to normal teenage rebellion.

"Yeah, Dad," Sabbath said, with a genuine eye roll. She knew they cared for her, and tried their best to treat her as their own flesh and blood, but she really hadn't been with them long enough to form that kind of bond with them. Honestly, she'd never been with ANY family that long. "And I never sleep until noon!" she replied defensively. "But today I got up early because I couldn't sleep." That much was true. "I was too excited about today! Some girls from school asked if I would go shopping with them today. Can I Dad, please?" Cue the puppy-dog eyes.

"Are these the same girls you went to the movies with?" Mr. Miller asked.

"Yes," Sabbath replied, thinking fast. "We're getting to be close friends!"

"Oh, well that's good, honey. I'm happy for you," he said, folding his paper up and placing it on the table. Any form of girl talk seemed to painfully bore him.

"How long will you be gone?" asked a third voice. Mrs. Miller, ever the worrywart, had just walked into the kitchen, already dressed in her casual weekend clothes. She was carrying a black fluffy thing in her arms that Sabbath recognized as Robin, her kitten. "Who are these girls? Do you need a ride?"

"I'm not sure how long we'll be gone. According to the girls, there're a lot of stores in town. And no, Mom, we don't need a ride. It's only, like, a ten-minute walk from the school. And they're the same girls I went to the movies with."

"Yesterday?"

"When else did I go to the movies with friends?" Sabbath was getting irritated. She hated it when Mrs. Miller gave her the 3rd degree. Although she had to admit, her story was weakening… "It's Saturday, Mom," Sabbath continued, hoping to save herself. "We had fun yesterday at the movies so they asked if I wanted to go shopping with them today."

Mrs. Miller glanced over to her husband, and the two seemed to have a mini discussion through looks alone. Then Mrs. Miller looked back to Sabbath and said, "Alright, have fun. Here, I'll give you some money."

"Thanks, Mom," Sabbath replied, smiling up at her foster mother.

Robin squirmed out of Mrs. Miller's arms as she turned to go find her purse. The kitten regarded Sabbath a moment before deciding Mr. Miller's slipper-clad feet looked cozier than her arms. The little critter stalked under the kitchen table and began pawing at his feet. Mr. Miller then peered under the table and reached down to scooped up the little puff ball. The kitten sniffed at Mr. Miller's coffee mug.

"Did you feed him today?" Sabbath asked.

"I believe your mother fed him earlier this morning; he woke us up pretty early today. Now I think he just wants attention," Mr. Miller answered without breaking eye contact with the kitten. As he held it in his arms, its eyes began to close. It was fast asleep by the time Mrs. Miller returned to the kitchen.

"Here you go, dear; this should be enou—awww, would you look at that?" Mrs. Miller said, distracted by the sleeping kitten in her husband's arms.

"…Yeah, he's pretty adorable," Sabbath said after a moment, regaining her foster mother's attention. The kitten was incredibly cute, but Sabbath was in a rush to get going.

"Yeah...anyway, here's some money," Mrs. Miller continued. "This should be enough; I doubt you'll spend more than $80 in one day in this town."

"Thanks, Mom!" Sabbath said, stuffing the bills in her bag and smiling at her foster mother. "The girls and I will probably grab lunch in town, but I should be home for dinner."

"Alright, honey," Mrs. Miller said as Sabbath turned to run out the door. "Be careful!"

"And have fun!" said Mr. Miller.

Sabbath sighed as she closed the door behind her and started walking down the sidewalk. The Millers really were nice; she didn't like lying to them. But how could she tell them the truth? They'd never accept it.

Shaking her head to clear her dreary thoughts, Sabbath focused on the goal ahead. First things first; she needed to find a new outfit that was both functional (as in wouldn't show the dirt or singe marks that would surely develop over time) and attractive. _'After all,_' she thought. '_The key factor in a first impression is appearance.' _ Sabbath was considering today's meeting her first with the Titans, not wanting to count the time they'd found her battered and unconscious on a crushed minivan. After she found the right clothes, she'd need to find a quiet place to practice the "performance" she was to put on for the Titans, although she still didn't have much of an idea of what she was going to do. And lastly, she needed to make her way to Titans' Tower. '_And I have to be home in time for dinner,'_ she reminded herself. Despite how tired she was beginning to feel, Sabbath was glad she'd gotten up early.

As she entered the downtown area, Sabbath looked around at all the shops that were beginning to open. She remembered flying over this place the night before, and couldn't believe how much different things looked during the day. A large, 4-sided clock tower stood in the center of town, informing everyone that it was 7:30am. _'How did I not see this thing last night?' _Sabbath wondered. It was early in the day, yet already the cafes were beginning to lure in customers and shops were opening their doors. Sabbath was about to head into the closest clothing boutique when the smell of coffee and donuts wafted across the street to her. Her stomach grumbled in response, reminding her she'd neglected to have breakfast in her hurry to be out the door.

Looking around, she realized only a couple of stores were beginning to open, and most were still closed. Sabbath scolded herself for leaving so early. What had she been thinking? Leaving early wouldn't make the stores open any earlier. Glancing up at the clock again, Sabbath told herself the world wouldn't end if she took half an hour to have a quick something.

Sabbath crossed the street and entered the sweet-smelling café. It was a small place, painted and decorated in all the different shades of coffee. Yet, despite the sepia theme, there was quiet acoustic music playing over the speaker system. Sabbath recognized it as current, although the words were missing and it was all purely instrumental. Still, it wasn't that bad. After waiting in line behind a business man and a girl with loud headphones, Sabbath finally made it to the counter. She decided on a bagel and coffee, since it would be quick (a small line was beginning to appear behind her) yet filling.

Taking a seat at one of the outdoor tables, Sabbath looked around, familiarizing herself with all the shops. She decided a methodical approach would be the best, and chose a nearby consignment store for her first stop. The large clock tower informed her it was 8:15. Most of the shops were open now, and Sabbath decided it was time to start shopping.

Tossing her bagel wrapper and empty coffee cup in the trash, Sabbath headed into the store. Upon closer inspection, she realized it was almost entirely juniors stuff. Everything from shoes to jewelry to clothes for all seasons (even though Sabbath was pretty sure it didn't snow in this town); even bits of what looked like Halloween costumes. Everything here was one-of-a-kind. Unfortunately, Sabbath had had trouble with juniors t-shirts for a couple years now (and not just because of her wings), so shirt shopping here was out. However, there were a lot of shoes to pick from, as well as other various accessories. She decided to start with the shoes, as she was almost positive she'd find something there.

Walking towards the shelves of shoes, Sabbath hitched her bag up more securely on her shoulder before squatting down to dig through the vast selection. There was everything from dress shoes to snow boots, and everything in between. There were, of course, tons of sneakers, but Sabbath found them all to be either dirty, boring, or a combination of the two. She was beginning to lose hope as she neared the final section of shoes in her size; the winter boots. Sabbath was about to move on to the accessories part of the store when one box of boots caught her eye. It wasn't too exciting, just sticking out further than the others in the tidy row of shoes. Reaching down on impulse to push them back onto the shelf, she found they wouldn't move. It felt like there was something behind them. Curiosity getting the best of her, Sabbath bent down and pulled the snow boots down off the shelf to see what it was.

There, squished to the back of the shelf, was a pair of black, knee-high boots, with hot pick, flat soles like sneakers. Sabbath flipped them upside down and sadly saw that they were a size too small. Still, they did look big enough, and they were too cute to pass up without a fight. Sabbath stepped out of her sneakers and undid the subtle, full-length black zipper on the side of the boot. It slid on perfectly and fit as if it were made for her. And they were only $7. It was meant to be.

Happy with her incredible find, Sabbath put her sneakers back on and hugged the boots to her chest—making sure to hang on to them at all costs—as she walked towards the accessories. There were many different things all grouped together on the same shelf. Sunglasses, bracelets, socks, hair clips, etc. Near the top of a pile of socks (ew; used socks?), was a pair of plain black arm warmers. Sabbath picked them up and looked them over. Instead of thumb holes, they had a simple triangle of fabric at one end that ended in a loop. The picture on the tag showed them worn with the loop wrapped around the middle finger like a ring, the triangle giving it a gothic, almost renaissance-era look.

Arm warmers had never really been her thing, but now that she thought about it, why not? She'd briefly considered using them in the past to cover the marks on her forearms, but when she realized most arm warmers wrapped around one's palm and the back of one's hand, she thought of how easily they would catch fire with a flame in her hand and chose a sweatshirt and makeup instead. But these arm warmers would barely touched her palms at all and only partially cover the backs of her hands. Plus, they were made of a much thinner (though not transparent) fabric than her sweatshirt and would certainly be much more practical during the blazing hot summer.

Sabbath tucked her boots under one arm and stretched one of the arm warmers on to see how it fit (after first looking around to make sure no one would see her briefly exposed arm. She sometimes wondered if she went beyond self-conscious into just plain paranoid, but what could she do?). The loop around her middle finger was thin and barely noticeable, and the triangle of cloth along the back made her hand look long and elegant. The rest of the arm warmer slid easily all the way to her elbow; covering her entire forearm perfectly. She had used a layer of cover-up on the handprints on her arms as she always did, but she felt confident that even without it, the arm warmer would hide the marks from view. Plus, the arm warmers were very comfortable. They were made from a silky black fabric with a sheer black fabric over it, and Sabbath had to admit they were very soft. Noting that the price tag read $4, Sabbath happily peeled the arm warmer off and added it and its pair to the growing pile in her arms.

Sabbath poked around the consignment store a little while longer, but found nothing else of interest. She made her purchase and quickly moved on to the next store, knowing she still had to practice her powers once she finished shopping before she could go see the Titans. Sabbath walked past several shops before stopping again. Most stores on this street were either jewelry stores, cafes, or more expensive boutiques. Eventually Sabbath came to what was obviously a Goth shop. The window display was all black and red; dead dolls, spiked or ripped things, and plaid seemed to be the theme. The store was called NightLife, and it was impossible to see into from the outside. The red window display backgrounds completely shielded the inside of the store from view, and door was made of tinted glass. Still, Sabbath decided it was worth a look. The place looked interesting, and considering the black boots and arm warmers she'd bought, she was sure she'd find matching items in this store.

Though the shop's door was normal, the sound of a creaky wooden door played from a nearby, hidden speaker when she opened it instead of the normal bell sound effect most stores had. It was mildly creepy, but Sabbath liked it. Perhaps this store fit her style more than she wanted to admit. A girl with bright pink pigtails, a black choker and multiple piercings smiled at her from behind the counter. The store was lit with a combination of white and red lights (mostly red ones), with a couple black lights in the back; the walls and floor a matte black. Sabbath smiled back at her and began looking over the various shelves and racks.

The first rack she came to was a bunch of different girls' shirts. Sabbath flipped through, at first not really seeing anything she liked. She grabbed a basic black tee, a black tank top with a big white "X" on it, and another black tee with a hot pink skull on the front. She realized she was picking up a lot of black, but figured it was the best color for hiding dirt and burn marks. Tossing her selections over her arm, Sabbath moved on to the pants and skirts. She grabbed a pair of black and white Tripps, and then on impulse a pink and black plaid skirt. She threw the pants and skirt over her arm as well and found a dressing room in the back of the store.

This was the only normal-looking part of the store. Small changing stalls, fluorescent white lights, ugly carpeting, tri-fold mirrors, etc. The first outfit Sabbath tried was the black and white Tripps with the black, white "X" tank top (although, because of the wings, she had to just hold the shirt up to herself and get a general idea of how it would look and fit). The colors matched, and the back of the tank top was cut in a way that she wouldn't need to make holes for her wings, but the boots and arm warmers she already bought would've looked weird with that outfit. She tried switching the tank top for the plain black tee. Sabbath grimaced as she turned to look in the mirror again. With her long black hair and dark eyes, the outfit looked a little too depressing. Add to that the large black bat wings that would show once she cut slits in the shirt, and one would think she were a villain, not going to meet a bunch of heroes. The same problem arose with the black and pink skull tee.

Sighing in frustration, Sabbath changed into the black and pink plaid skirt. Aside from the fact that it didn't even reach her knees, there was the obvious problem of flying in a skirt. But the skirt did match the black tee with the pink skull on it, as well as the black and pink boots. The skirt had more shades of pink than black, so the ensemble wasn't too dark, yet the plaid pattern would hide any burns or dirt. Plus, a skirt would show off the boots better than the Tripps would. Of course, she'd have to wear something under it if she were to even think of flying in it. But something as simple as shorts or leggings would work well enough.

Sabbath left the dressing room, leaving the Tripps, the tank top, and the plain black tee on the reject rack. She couldn't believe the luck she was having today! Usually she'd find a few things here and there, but never an entire, color-coordinated outfit. She was really starting to get excited for the day ahead.

Once she got to the checkout, Sabbath was looking down into the glass case under the counter as the girl rung up her purchase. The jewelry was so unusual, yet it really was beautiful. Sabbath wasn't really thinking of buying any, however, until one piece in particular caught her eye. It was a pink ribbon choker with a black pendant. It was the pendant that really got her; it was about one inch long and was a perfect, three-dimensional tear shape. Under the bright lights of the glass case, it seemed almost transparent. Yet at the same time, it looked as if it contained every color under the sun.

"I said, that'll be $15.95,"

Sabbath looked up, startled. She'd been so busy starring at the pendant, she hadn't realized the cashier was talking to her. "Um, yeah," Sabbath said, regaining her bearings. "Could I see that necklace, please?" she asked, pointing into the case.

The cashier began to look annoyed, but didn't say anything as she bent down to retrieve the necklace. She stood up and handed it to Sabbath. Under the dimmer store lights, it no longer looked transparent. It looked a solid black, but Sabbath suspected that under full sunlight, its colors would return. Grinning, she added, "I'll take this too."

All previous signs of friendliness now gone, the cashier rung up the necklace and put it in a small, plain black bag before putting it in the larger black bag with the skirt and tee shirt. "That brings your total to $35.94. Will there be anything else today?"

"Nope, that'll do it," Sabbath replied with a smile as she handed over the money, too happy about her purchases to care how much the necklace had cost.

"Have a nice day," the cashier said automatically as she handed Sabbath her bag and receipt. Stuffing the change in her pocket, she left the store.

Her outfit was nearly complete; all she needed now was something to go under the skirt. At the end of the street, Sabbath came to a costume shop called "Funky Jim's". It was another store with unusual clothing, only instead of Goth attire, it looked like more of a novelty shop. It seemed to have everything from masks and Halloween costumes and accessories to stage make-up and party lights. There was also the largest collection of jokes, gags, and prank kits she'd ever seen (the entire left half of the store seemed devoted to it). She wasn't sure if she'd find what she was looking for here, but it looked like an interesting place, and she still had some time since the other shops had fortunately been quick stops.

Sabbath pushed open the door and a clown horn sounded; a change from NightLife's creaky coffin sound, but still not the simple bell she kept expecting. And yet, she couldn't help but smile at the silliness of it. She wondered if this was the kind of store Beast Boy would like; he'd stricken her as a sort of class clown. She realized then how excited she was to see him again, as well as the rest of the Titans. There'd just been something she liked about them.

_'Maybe because they're the first people in years who haven't looked at me like some kind of escaped mental patient?' _

"Why hellll-o there little lady!" boomed an overly cheerful voice, interrupting her train of thought. "And how are we this mighty-fine day?"

Sabbath looked up, startled, at the large, loud man who hadn't been anywhere in sight last she'd checked. He was a tall, bulky, balding man whom she assumed was maybe in his mid to late fourties. He was wearing casual, khaki pants, tattered penny loafers, a gaudy Hawaiian-print shirt (open at the top, exposing the top of his unfortunately hairy chest), a gold chain, and he had sunglass perched atop his head (they didn't hide his heavily receding hairline as much as he probably hoped). This could be none other than Funky Jim himself. He was smiling at Sabbath, although giving her a slightly expectant look. Shocked by his sudden appearance as well as his attire, she'd forgotten he'd actually spoken to her.

"Um, hi," she replied uneasily, still thrown off guard. "I'm doing fine, and you?" she continued automatically.

"I'm just dandy!" he said boisterously. He had a slight southern accent. "Mah name's Funky Jim, but you can call me Henry James Nicholas III, for short," he continued with a grin, extending his hand in an ironically formal gesture. Yet

Sabbath shifted her shopping bags from her right hand to her left hand so she could take shake hand. "I'm Ja-" she said, trying to be polite, but was cut off when something buzzed sharply against her palm. "Ah!" she exclaimed in shock, releasing his hand and taking a step backward, examining her palm.

"Heheheh! Gotcha!" he said, revealing the joke buzzer strapped to his hand with a leather band. If she'd been looking for it, it would have been hard to miss. But she hadn't been expecting anything of the sort, so she hadn't seen it coming. It was also an incredibly cheesy, hackneyed prank. She didn't know people still used it anymore. Regardless of the prank, Sabbath decided she liked Funky Jim, or "Henry James Nicholas III". He sort of reminded her of her hippy music teacher. But instead of someone's cool dad, Funky Jim reminded her more of someone's embarrassing-yet-tons-of-fun uncle.

"So what can I help you with?" he asked, casually sliding his hands in his pockets as if nothing had happened, suddenly all professional.

"I'm not sure, exactly," Sabbath replied. She didn't quite know what she was looking for, just that she'd know it if she saw it. "Just browsing, really. I've never seen this place before."

"Well, feel free to take a look around. I'll be out back, but just give a holler if ya need me!" and with a wink, Funky Jim strolled out of view behind a shelf. Seconds later, Sabbath heard a door slam.

_'Well…'_ Sabbath thought to herself, still somewhat stunned. _'That was…different…'_

She walked by the first couple of shelves, not interested in make-up, props, or children's' costumes. She stopped briefly when she got to the women's costumes. She picked a long black cape off the rack and considered it. A cape would definitely be more comfortable that a sweatshirt as far as hiding her wings. Plus, it would fit in with the whole superhero style the Titans seemed so big on. Hadn't Robin been wearing one? And Raven?

However, when she really thought about it, Sabbath realized flying with it on would be close to impossible; she'd have to take it off in order to fly, just like with her hoodie. But a cape wasn't something she could easily tie around her waist, nor did it look normal in public. Sabbath put the cape back on the rack and moved on.

She then came to the costume accessory part of the store, containing everything from belts and shoes to hats and glasses. However, all the accessories seemed to be in the same category. Fangs were with the white gloves and red brooches; cowboy hats were with the cowboy boots, guns, and holsters; pointy witch hats were with broomsticks, stockings, and wands, etc.

Sabbath stopped a moment at the witch accessories. A hat wasn't necessary, nor was a broomstick, but she saw one pair of tights that interested her. They were black and pink horizontal stripes. They were the only pair in those colors left, but Sabbath saw they were, luckily, one size fits all (as most costume accessories usually are). They would be perfect for the skirt. Black and pink was definitely the theme of her outfit, and she couldn't believe she'd found all matching shades of pink.

Happy with her find, and with her outfit now complete, Sabbath headed towards the register in the center of the store, only to find no one there. Then she remembered Funky Jim had gone "out back". She would've felt weird yelling out his name, plus she didn't know what to call him (Funky Jim? Mr. Jim? Mr. Funky? Henry James Nicholas III?). She was about to go find him when she noticed the bell on the counter. Well, it was more of a giant red button than a bell. There was a sign taped to the counter next to it that read "push button for service : )".

Sabbath put the tights on the counter and reached out for the button. Instead of a bell or a buzzer, a loud fart sound effect emanated throughout the store when she pushed the button. Sabbath hung her head in embarrassment, by now at a total loss for words.

Funky Jim emerged from the back room moments later, carrying a large box full of various metal and plastic junk. "You rang?" he asked with a grin. Sabbath could only look at him and offer a weak smile in response.

He walked behind the counter, placing the box off to the side. It landed with a rattling thud. "What's all that?" Sabbath asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Well, it USED to be my microwave oven," he replied, a mix of sadness and anger touching his voice as he followed her gaze to the box. "But now it's just broken junk. I thought I could fix it m'self, but now I suppose the only place for it is the junk yard. 'Course the Man's too cheap to bother taking big trash to the dump for free, so I gotta bring it there m'self after closing tonight."

Sabbath couldn't believe he'd used the term "The Man", just like her music teacher. Were the two actually related? But he'd also said something else that grabbed her attention.

"This town has a dump?" she asked, an idea quickly forming in her mind.

"Yeah, down the coast aways, a couple miles south of that big ol' T."

Sabbath thought about that as he scanned the price tag on the tights and stuffed them in a bag. Unlike plain, normal shopping bags (though why she kept expecting this place to be normal, she didn't know), Funky Jim's were tie-dyed all different colors; a smiling jester wearing sunglasses printed on the front.

"That'll be $5.50," he informed her.

A "T"? That reminded her, "Hey, have you seen a green boy come in here?" she asked, taking the bag and handing over the cash. Not only did she think this might be Beast Boy's kind of place, but she also realized she'd never heard anyone else ever talk about the Titans. She still wondered how credible they really were, and refused to totally believe comic book superheroes existed in her town.

"The Beast Boy?" he said, alarmed. "You know 'im?"

"Sort of," she replied, mildly concerned at his reaction.

"Weeeeell, I'd keep mah eye on 'im if I was you; he's a trouble maker, that one!" he continued, narrowing his eyes and looking disapproving, though Sabbath could now tell he was joking. "Quite a shifty character."

Sabbath couldn't help but laugh at the shifter pun, as bad as it was. Also, she highly doubted Beast Boy was any kind of trouble maker. But she played along, "Alrighty, will do!" She waved good bye to Funky Jim as she left the store, the clown horn sounding again as she opened the door.

"Have a funky day!" he called after her with a smile.

Sabbath was grinning as she walked down the street away from Funky Jim's. As silly as it was, that place had made her day. True, she'd been pranked and humiliated repeatedly, but it was all in good fun. She'd have to go there again someday. But mainly, she was happy to know that someone else knew of at least one of the Titans (so she hadn't imagined them) and didn't seem honestly concerned about them either, so Sabbath figured they couldn't be totally horrible people.

'_Alright,' _she thought to herself, returning her train of thought to the tasks ahead. _'Now I just have to change, and then find out where exactly that dump is.'_ She decided the dump would be the best place for a practice session. No one would care if she broke things, and it wasn't teeming with people. Plus, she imagined it would be pretty secluded, as most garbage dumps were, and it would be a straight shot up the coast from there to Titan's Tower.

Sabbath then came to a small ice cream shop the next street over. It was the kind of place that, although there were a couple tables crammed inside, they really encouraged customers to eat at the benches outdoors. It was a small shop with a huge ice cream cone on its roof (another thing she'd somehow missed on her late night flight). Sabbath walked into the shop and chose one of the three small tables near the back of the shop, the front being taken up by a large counter full of different ice creams. She suspected this kind of place didn't have public restrooms, so she set her shoulder bag on the table to make it look like she was going to be there a while (she doubted this was the kind of place one had to watch one's purse in. Besides, all her money was in her pocket anyway, as well as her house key. All that was in her bag was her iPod, an old lip gloss, and half a pack of gum).

She spotted a restroom sign on the wall behind her, and with shopping bags in hand, discreetly made her way towards it. It had been noisy in the main area of the shop due to all the people ordering ice cream and the employees yelling orders to each other, but now that she was in the ladies' room, the realized they had the radio playing over the speaker system. Sabbath ducked into the handicapped stall and started changing into her new clothes. She didn't recognize the tune playing on the radio, and figured it must be something new. It wasn't too bad, really. The song ended as she was sliding on the skirt over the tights. A she suspected, they went together perfectly.

"Wasn't that great folks?" said the radio announcer when the song ended. "That was Star Spanagled's latest hit, 'Kick Me When I'm Down'. Check out more about them on our website, as well as an exclusive look at their upcoming music video. From what I've seen, it's fantastic. A combination of a sci-fi magic show and an action fight scene. Check it out now at our website, .com. Next up is the latest from Pink on 107.9 WQBJ."

'_That's an…interesting combination,' _Sabbath thought to herself as she pulled off her t-shirt. Grabbing the black shirt with the skull out of its bag and ripping off the price tag, Sabbath suddenly realized she had a problem. She'd been so caught up in shopping and the day ahead, she forgot she would need some way to make slits in the back of her new shirt.

'_Great,'_ she though, as she stood there with the shirt in her hand. She shifted her weight as she contemplated what to do next. When she moved, she stepped on her jeans that were still on the floor. She stepped on something hard, though, which shouldn't have happened. Turning around, she bent and picked up her jeans off the floor to see what was under them. There was nothing there. But as she did so, something metal fell out of the pocket and clinked to the bathroom stall's tile floor. Her house key! Picking it up, she examined its jagged edge. She noticed it had sort of a point to it, too, and suddenly an idea flew into her mind.

It would've seemed strange to walk out of the restroom half-dressed and ask for a pair of scissors, but she really didn't want to wear the navy t-shirt she'd been wearing before (it had been the first thing she grabbed that morning, and not only would it not match the rest of her new clothes, but once she'd left the house and seen herself in the daylight, she'd noticed a bleach spot near the hem and a small hole near the neck. Sabbath decided cutting the holes with her house key would be better than nothing, and she could smooth out the rough cuts later.

By now an expert on making wing holes in the backs of shirts, Sabbath didn't need to try the shirt on to see where to make them. Carefully, she poked the key through the back of the shirt from the inside. Holding the neck of the shirt tightly in her other hand, she dragged the key downward about 6 inches, wincing at the ripping noise. She then did the same a couple inches to the right. She then put the key in one of the shopping bags and held the shirt up to inspect her work. '_Good enough,'_ she told herself.

Once she had the shirt on and her wings through the holes, she started to feel the whole thing coming together. She felt the giddiness a child feels when putting on their Halloween costume. Eagerly, she stepped into the boots. She couldn't believe how great they looked with the rest of the outfit. Because they went nearly up to her knees, it made the skirt appear not quite as short (she worried it might look too short, as she wasn't used to wearing skirts). She pulled the necklace out of its bag and put it on. Another dream fit. Lastly, she pulled the arm warmers out of their bag and snapped the plastic tie holding them together. She yanked off the price tag and tucked one arm warmer under her arm while she slid the first one on her right hand. It fit perfectly and completely hid her marks. As she put the left one on and her outfit was completed, she felt…different, somehow; stronger, justified. It felt right. It felt like home.

Just then, another person entered the restroom, slamming the door behind them and bringing Sabbath's thoughts back to the present situation. She watched the space under her stall door and saw the person's shadow walk past her door in favor of the second one down from her. Quickly shrugging back into her sweatshirt, Sabbath stuffed everything else she'd brought into the stall in the big, black Nightlife bag, and hurried out of the restroom.

She went back to the table she'd left her backpack at and sat down. After checking to make sure the contents of her pack hadn't been disturbed, she stuffed the Nightlife bag into it and slung it over her shoulder. She sat there for a couple minutes longer and watched a few customers come and go. She pretended to consider the menu hanging from the ceiling for a few moments before she approached the cashier.

"Can I help you?" said the acne-ridden boy behind the counter, sounding as if by now, the phrase had lost all meaning and the last thing he wanted to do was take her order.

"Yeah, can you tell me what time it is?" she asked, ignoring his dull attitude.

He glanced to his left and then quickly back at Sabbath and said blandly, "10:45." He sounded completely bored.

"Awesome, thanks." She said. "Oh, and how do I get to the city dump from here?"

"…'Serious?"

"Yes, do you know or not?"

"I guess you can take the bus..." he replied, not entirely helpful.

Sabbath would've asked him for more information, but a line was beginning to form behind her, so she thanked him (reluctantly; the guy was a jerk) and left.

Not knowing where the bus stops were in that city, and hating the fact that she couldn't fly during the day, Sabbath decided her only choice was to walk to the dump. Funky Jim had said it was only a couple miles past Titans' Tower, but he hadn't specified how many exactly. With a sigh, Sabbath turned onto the next street down, heading towards the coast.

It was times like these that she hated how ignorant people were. She could be at the dump in minutes, instead of hours, if she could fly there. But no, people would freak out and panic or shoot her down or something if they saw her. Meanwhile, the day was only getting hotter. As she turned the corner, she came to electronics' store called "Cook's". As she passed by, the TVs in the window display started playing the music video for that song she'd heard in the ice cream shop. It wasn't a bad song, so Sabbath turned to watch it. She remembered then what the radio had said, that it was a "combination of a sci-fi magic show and an action fight scene". At the time it had sounded like a weird mix, but now that she saw it, she got what they meant. It had a lot of special effects and seemed to be about two magical, futuristic gangs fighting. One was a gang of demons, the other a gang of angels (male angels of course). They wore strange metal armor and were swooping down on one other, shooting lightning and fire, etc. It was rather impressive, especially for a music video, although Sabbath suspected it was just the thousand-dollar televisions. Still, as she listened to the song and watched the angels and demons fight, an idea formed in her head.

She ran into the electronics' store and made a quick purchase with the rest of her money, leaving her with about $1.50 in change. As she was checking out, she asked the nerdy-looking boy, "Darren", at the counter about the local bus routes. He seemed much more eager to please her (he probably didn't see a lot of girls in his store) than the guy at the ice cream shop. Not only did this boy tell her where the bus stops were, but he pulled up the bus routes' map and schedule on his iPhone. Sabbath smiled and thanked him as she took her bag and left the store.

According to Darren, there was a bus stop the next block over and the right bus would be there within the next half hour. Sabbath came to the bus stop and sat on the bench to wait. The bag from Cook's was too big to fit in her small backpack—which was now full of clothes and empty shopping bags—so she held it in her lap. She was happy that she finally had a plan for what to do when she got to Titans' Tower, although she was still a little nervous; she'd never shown off her powers to anyone before. Not in a very long time. She hoped they wouldn't think her too theatrical.

Soon the bus arrived. She paid the fare and was at the dump in about twenty minutes. Once she got there, however, she realized she couldn't just walk in the front gate. For some reason, there were actually guards there and the whole place was fenced off. Why this city was so intent on protecting its trash, she had no idea. The dump was also a lot bigger than she'd expected. From where she stood, she couldn't see the other end of it, or even the ocean, for that matter. It was right on the coast, as Funky Jim had said, yet the various mounds and trailers (trailers?) hid it from view. It didn't smell, though. Never having had any reason to go to a dump, Sabbath had expected mountains of trash bags and a terrible stench. But luckily, she'd learned from a kind old lady on the bus that the dump was actually a landfill. The mounds and hills she was seeing must be years and years' worth of buried trash.

But how to get in?

Sabbath walked along the outside of the fence, hoping to find some kind of rusted-out hole or tear in the old chain-link fence. Eventually she lost sight of the main gate, and yet she still couldn't find a way through the fence. _'Guess I'll just have to go over it,'_ she decided.

Looking around to make sure there was no one to see her, Sabbath shrugged out of her sweatshirt and tied it around her waist. The sight of her wings in the sunlight made her a little uneasy, but she told herself that she was here to practice her powers anyway, so it didn't matter. Plus, it's not like there was anyone around. All the guards seemed to be at the front gate; and there weren't even any security cameras. So, with her mind made up, Sabbath stretched out her wings, backed up a few steps, and quickly flew over the fence

She touched down just inside the fence and continued to follow it until she was at the far back of the dump and the shoreline was within sight. Turning to her right, she was also just able to make out Titans' tower. She passed a few of the trailers shed spotted when she first arrived, and now noticed they were full of trash. Not garbage bags or anything, but bigger things. One trailer was full of old monitors, another full of propane and gas tanks, and yet another loaded to the brim with old tires. There were also a few huge recycling bins further ahead; one labeled "PAPER", another labeled "PLASTICS", etc.

Overall, the dump looked dead. There were no birds around; not even seagulls. There wasn't a lot of grass on the ground, either. It was more a mix of sand, dirt, and gravel. There was one bush of bittersweet climbing up the fence near where she'd entered the dump, but that was it. The ocean was only a few yards in front of her, but even that didn't look as lively as the rest of the shore.

_'Perfect,'_ thought Sabbath. It was secluded and there was nothing of value, yet all four elements were present. It was a great place for her to practice. Finding a generally flat area between two hills, Sabbath took off her backpack and laid it on the ground near her feet. She then unpacked her purchase from Cook's and set that up (luckily, it came with batteries). _'Alright,'_ she thought to herself, taking her iPod out of her bag. _'A quick run through to get the routine down, then it's off to see the Titans!'_


	7. Chapter 6: Second Is The Best

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 6

A/N: This is Chapter 6 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

PS. Please note: this story supports the RobXStar pairing, not the BBXStar pairing. The whole thing with Beast Boy and Starfire in the car is just Starfire being Starfire.

* * *

><p><p>

Sabbath had just finished packing up from her practice session and was leaving the dump almost in the same condition in which she'd found it. Surely no one would miss those melted tires, and maybe no one would notice the soggy pile of crushed stone. But even if they did, Sabbath was positive she hadn't been seen.

There was nothing but crumbling, deserted shoreline between the dump and Titans' Tower. It couldn't really be called a beach because it was too rocky, and there were definitely no people there. But since there were no people around, Sabbath decided to fly to the tower. According to her iPod, it was fast approaching 1:30pm, and she didn't want to waste any more time. Plus, flying helped cool her off. She had worked up a bit of a sweat during practice (it had to be over 80 degrees, even that close to the ocean), and didn't want to show up at the Tower all sweaty and gross.

Once she got to the Tower's island, she touched down on a rock and took a minute to look the place over. It was a lot different than the last time she'd seen it, then again most things look different in the light of day. Eventually, Sabbath spotted what she assumed was the front door of the Tower. She walked over to it and looked for some kind of a doorbell, but there wasn't one to be found. There was a key pad and what looked like a handprint recognizer, but no doorbell. Terrific.

Sabbath crossed her arms and began to feel discouraged. Out of all the preparation she'd done for this day, this was the one aspect that she hadn't really given any thought to. After all, who doesn't have a doorbell? She was beginning to wonder if she should just give up when she heard voices yelling and cheering from the roof.

_ 'The roof?'_ thought Sabbath. Confused and curious, she flew up towards the sounds. She stopped when she got there, her bottom half still hidden by the roof's edge, and flattened her hands against the roof's cement top for balance. The Titans were playing soccer (except for Raven, who appeared to be playing the part of reluctant referee). On the roof. In fact, they seemed to have a few different game set ups up there; a volleyball/tennis court, a couple basketball hoops, etc. For some reason, Sabbath wasn't surprised; she'd already suspected they were rich.

But the only game set up currently in use was the field with a net goal on each end. The set up was all the way across the roof from her on the opposite end. She watched the game for a moment, unnoticed by the Titans. It was sort of awkward, really. She didn't want to interrupt their game or be accused of sneaking up on them (the last thing she wanted was to come off as creepy), yet she felt like a stalker just hovering there. She was still debating what to do when the tall redhead, Starfire, gave a loud cry and kicked the ball, hard, towards the goal (were her eyes glowing?). Robin seemed to be the goalie for the opposing team. He lunged to the right, trying to catch the ball, but Starfire's aim had been a tad off. Instead of going in the goal, the ball hit the post and ricocheted completely off the field. Right in Sabbath's direction.

The Titan's watched the ball fly in amazement, and seemed to notice Sabbath's presence at the same time they realized the ball was heading straight for her face. Everything happened so fast, yet it all seemed to be in slow motion from Sabbath's point of view. The ball sped towards her. The Titans' eyes bugged out of their heads simultaneously. A couple of them shouted at her. Instinctively, Sabbath stopped beating her wings and ducked. She grabbed onto the roof's ledge at the last second to keep from falling out of the air completely (and just barely managing to keep her face from slamming into the side of the roof). The ball soared clear overhead, but Sabbath felt a few hairs get pulled back in the force of its wake. After a moment she faintly heard it bounce off the rocks far below and splash into the ocean.

That Starfire was definitely stronger than she looked.

Shocked, Sabbath simply hung there for a moment, catching her breath and trying to convince her heart and stomach, which seemed to have switched places, to go back where they belonged. She heard the Titans running towards her, shouting. Before they got to her, she pulled herself up onto the ledge and stood up. Playing it cool, she brushed a few specks of dirt off her skirt and said, "Yikes, I get it! I'll come back later!"

***Beast Boy's POV***

Beast Boy's heart was pounding, his mind reeling in shock. He couldn't believe it. It seemed like just yesterday Terra had been there, interrupting their volleyball game on the roof (who knew how long ago it had really been). And now, here was Jane, interrupting their soccer game. The similarities between the two situations stunned him. Plus, although Beast Boy couldn't put his finger on it, there was something familiar about Jane. She bore no real resemblance to Terra, but did she remind him of her? Well, if she hadn't before, she definitely did now…

He was ecstatic that Jane had come back; now maybe she'd finally tell them what her powers were? What he'd seen that night walking her home was unlike anything he'd ever seen in his entire life. He'd never admit it out loud, but he'd even dreamt about her once or twice since then, his unconscious mind trying to solve the mysteries she'd left him with. Man, Raven was right; he really was a pathetic mess…

***Return to Normal/Sabbath's POV***

Robin was at the front of the group when they got to her. He smiled, seeing she was alright, but felt the need to ask anyways. "Jane, are you OK? That was close."

"I'm fine," Sabbath assured him. "Sorry to come by unannounced. You guys don't believe in doorbells, huh?"

But before anyone could answer her, Starfire pushed to the front of the group, apparently the only one among them who still thought Sabbath was fatally wounded. Her eyes, no longer glowing, but still green, looked like they were going to explode with tears any minute now.

"I am so terribly sorry, friend. I did not know you were there until…until…" her voice began to waver, and it looked as if she really were about to cry.

"Starfire, it's alright. Look, I'm fine, see?" Sabbath said, raising her arms and spinning around to show she was still perfectly intact. "No harm, no foul," she continued, offering a smile.

"But…you fell," Starfire went on, barely holding back the tears now.

"Really, I'm ok, I was ju-" but Sabbath didn't get to finish that sentence, because Starfire chose that moment to envelope her in the world's biggest, most lung-crushing hug ever.

"Honestly?" Starfire asked again, hugging her tightly. "You are not injured at all?"

"Not…yet…" Sabbath gasped. "But…air…would be…nice!"

Starfire released her and gave a weak smile. Sabbath coughed a bit and replenished the oxygen in her lungs before straightening and returning the expression. Starfire still seemed a bit upset at what had almost happened, but looked to now believe that Sabbath would, in fact, live.

"So…" Cyborg began awkwardly. "What brings you 'round here?"

"Well," Sabbath started, wondering if she'd misinterpreted their previous friendliness as a genuine invitation to return. "The other week, you guys patched me up and all, and I just wanted to come back and thank you."

"Yeah, and I told her to come back and visit us once she healed up," Beast Boy added, rescuing what was becoming a rather awkward situation. "And I believe the lady also promised a show of her powers, since she wouldn't tell us anything the last time we met."

Sabbath, though she had made no such promise, played along. Expressing much more confidence than she felt at this point, she said, "Don't tell me you forgot about me," and grinned.

"No, of course not," Robin said.

Raven was eerily silent at the back of the group.

Sabbath remembered the Dark Man's words, '_give them a show.' _Yet now she wasn't so sure. What did she really expect, anyway; for them to suddenly fawn all over her and become instant best friends? They'd only met her once, for crying out loud. She felt ridiculous. She suddenly got the urge to put on her sweatshirt, but managed to suppress it. Regardless, she couldn't help self-consciously tucking her wings firmly up against her back. "If you want me to come back some other time, that's fine," she said, quickly losing her nerve, "I have homework and stuff anyways and-"

Beast Boy cut her off and put his hand on her shoulder, an oddly intimate gesture considering the number of times they'd met. "Come on," he encouraged her. "Just stick around for five minutes. We don't bite." Then he whispered to her, "And Raven bet me you didn't have any powers at all."

Raven still said nothing and, although Sabbath doubted she could've heard what Beast Boy had said, she noticed a black energy emanating from Raven's eyes. Out of the corner of her vision, she spotted the same energy also enveloping Beast Boy's shoelaces and knotting them together, completely unbeknownst to the shape shifter. But before Sabbath could say anything to him, he turned back to the Titans to say something and tripped, landing right on his butt.

"D'ow!" he cried out, more surprised than hurt. He looked down to his knotted shoelaces. "Duuuude, no fair!" He said, continuing to mumble complaints under his breath as he set to work undoing the knot. There was a brief awkward silence (broken only by Cyborg's laughs at Beast Boy's expense) as he did so, and Sabbath had to stifle a giggle at the childish prank and Beast Boy's equally immature response. After a few moments, the green boy stood up and continued talking.

With a brief, dirty look at Raven, Beast Boy faced the Titans and continued, "Come on guys, she came all this way…and you can't tell me you haven't been just as curious as I was. You guys weren't there that night; you didn't see how awesome Jane's powers are! Let's give her a chance."

"Like he said," Sabbath chimed in, gaining confidence as Beast Boy stood up for her, "Five minutes, and I'm out of your hair. I promise you won't be disappointed."

"What did you have in mind?" Robin asked.

"Remember how when you asked what I could do I told you it was easier to show than to tell?" Sabbath asked. Robin nodded.

"Well," she continued, taking her bag off her shoulder and pulling out the mini-iHome she'd bought from Cook's. "I saw this music video today and it gave me a great idea. And since I've always sort of had a fondness for the theatrical…"

Robin cracked a small smile at the Batman reference.

Sabbath plugged her iPod into the iHome's dock and turned it on. Luckily, the iHome had come with batteries. "Like I said though, 5 minutes, and then you're rid of me. I just felt like we got off to a weird start the other week and wanted you to really know me before you made any choices one way or the other about me."

"Alright, well let's see whatcha got, little lady," Cyborg said with an encouraging smile.

"Yeah, you can do it!" Beast boy cheered.

Starfire was smiling now, too, and Robin looked approving. Raven was the only one who had yet to say anything, but Sabbath let it go.

Sabbath's confidence returned. She grinned and stretched her wings out wide. She knelt down to push play on her iPod, but paused and looked up at the Titans, whom she just realized were standing rather close to her.

"Um, you might want to step back a bit," she said. The Titans looked uneasy at that, but did as she asked. Raven seemed to be watching her more closely now.

Beast Boy, the last to retreat, quickly whispered to her, "Um, is this going to be safe?"

"Of course, it's fine; I just need a little space is all."

Unsure how to respond, but still trying to be encouraging, Beast Boy smiled as he joined the rest of the Titans (who had retreated back to the soccer field, though their game was long forgotten). "I'll be cheering for ya!" he called over his shoulder.

Pushing the play button, Sabbath took a deep breath. "Here goes," she whispered to herself. Suddenly, the sound of DHT's "Magic Melody" exploded in crisp perfection from the small speakers (the music video in the store had given her the idea, but she wanted to use her own music).

_ This is DHT/_

_ We're gonna take you into a world/_

_ Of darkness, and Magic._

Sabbath stood up and faced the Titans. As the music began to play, she raised her hands in front of her, the palms facing each other. A spark formed between them, and slowly it grew into a flame; first the size of a match's flame, then a candle.

_ Come to me children/_

_ And follow my way/_

It continued to grow to the size of a tennis ball, and bigger still. Eventually Sabbath dropped her left hand, leaving the flame—which was now bigger than her hand—perfectly balanced over her right palm.

_ Into the world of/_

_ Darkness and magic._

_ With all my power/_

_ I'll show you the way/_

Her left hand now free, Sabbath made a sweeping motion over the side of the roof. When she brought her hand back up, four slabs of stone—clearly just sliced out of the massive rocks down below—followed the motion and hovered in a row about six feet away from her and a good four feet above the roof. The stones gave off a soft yellow glow, as did the hand controlling them.

_ To all your dreams/_

Sabbath moved the floating rocks to form a neat row. Keeping her left hand outstretched towards them…

_ Hopes and illusion._

she hurled the flame from her right hand. It blasted clean through the first stone slab just as the song's tempo picked up, then turned back and flew through the one next to it. The two slabs now had flame-sized holes clean through their centers. The flame then dissipated and Sabbath carefully let the first two rock slabs drop to within an inch of the ground. Once she released them from her control, the glow left them and they fell in pieces; her power having been the only thing keeping them together after the flame hit them. She formed a neat pile of rubble on the roof between herself and the Titans before turning her attention to the ocean, keeping the remaining two slabs under her control with her left hand.

As the music continued, she reached out to the vast body of water with her right hand, summoning a long curl of water. It rolled into a basketball-sized orb above her palm, which now gave off a slight dark blue glow (darker than Raven's healing glow). Focusing and slowly tightening her fingers into a fist, the orb froze and became a solid ball of ice. Turning to face the stone slabs, Sabbath hurled the ice ball through the stones just as she had the flame. And, just as before, once she released the stones from her power, they fell apart into hundreds of pieces.

_Come to me children/_

_ And follow my way/_

Ignoring the rubble pile for now, Sabbath turned her attention to the ice orb that had returned to her hand like a boomerang.

_ Into the world of/_

_ Darkness and magic._

Quickly opening her fist, the orb instantly evaporated in a puff of steam (oops, hopefully the Titans wouldn't know that was an accident!), which she hastily condensed back to water.

_ With all my power/_

_ I'll show you the way/_

_ To all your dreams/_

_ Hopes and illusions._

Throwing the water onto the rubble, effectively soaking it, Sabbath then reached into a pocket in her skirt and pulled out several berries she'd grabbed off the bittersweet vines at the dump. As a soft lull marked the halfway point of the song, Sabbath threw the berries onto the rubble pile and, both arms extended towards it, closed her eyes and concentrated with all her might. A greenish-yellow glow now encompassed her hands.

_Darkness…_

_ Magic…_

_ Power…_

The seeds within the berries began to grow, mere green sprouts at first, but they grew at an unnaturally quick pace and soon became over ten feet tall, standing straight up without anything but Sabbath's power keeping them there. The massive vines curled and waved, as if alive. They resembled massive hypnotized snakes more than vines, and the greenish glow of Sabbath's power gave them an eerie, alien look.

_Dreams…_

_ Hopes…_

_ Illusions…_

As the music picked up again, Sabbath opened her eyes. She made the vines reach down like tentacles, pick up particularly large pieces of rock from the pile, and crush them into gravel. After letting them go on for a moment, Sabbath sliced both of her hands down through the air. The glow left the vines, though not her hands. The plants quickly dropped to the rocks, withered and died; becoming thin, brown, crumpled remains in seconds.

Turning away from the rocks and dead plants, Sabbath now looked to the sky. A passing cloud grew into a storm cloud as she pulled it closer. She reached one hand up towards it and pulled a cyclone down over the rubble pile, sucking every last piece of stone and dead plant off the roof like a giant vacuum cleaner. Sabbath was careful to contain the cyclone, not wanting the Titans to be sucked into it as well. Giving it clear boundaries, the cyclone felt like no more than a strong breeze to the nearby heroes.

Sabbath then stretched out her wings and took off up into the air. The cyclone lifted up off the roof, gaining altitude as Sabbath did. Her palms facing it, she directed it towards the ocean. Keeping a couple feet away from the cyclone, Sabbath took off and pushed it far out into the ocean.

_ Come to me children/_

_ And follow my way/_

_ Into the world of/_

_ Darkness and magic._

Once she was at least a football field's length away from the tower, she dropped her hands. The cyclone dissipated and dropped all the debris into the ocean. The second half of the final chorus began, and Sabbath turned back, making a bee line to the Tower.

_With all my power/_

_ I'll show you the way/_

_ To all your dreams/_

_Hopes and illusions._

As the final words of the song played, Sabbath stuck her landing on the roof, exactly where she'd started, and took a deep bow (for fun and comic relief, and so she didn't have to see the Titans' surely stunned and horrified expressions right away).

The wake of air Sabbath had kicked up followed soon behind her, an impressive gust that, unfortunately, blew her hair up over her head. It hung down over her face like a curtain, parting messily when she stood up to face the Titans. Not wanting to break her concentration during her routine, she hadn't looked at them since she pushed play. Until now.

***Beast Boy's POV***

Beast Boy was stunned and, for once, utterly speechless. He couldn't believe it. Jane was more amazing than he'd ever imagined! But more importantly, her power…over the rocks…it was just like Terra's. But Terra was dead; he'd watched her turn to stone, and Jane looked nothing like Terra. So how…?

***Raven's POV***

Music aside, Jane just sucked the life out of those plants. And created a mini natural disaster right here in front of us. Are her powers nothing but destructive?

***Robin's POV***

Wow, that was amazing! Batman should've had a theme song like that…Hell, I should have a theme song!

***Cyborg's POV***

Well OK then. Hard to believe she was beaten by a net cannon! Hee, and a mini-van. I bet she could totally take Robin in a fight.

***Starfire's POV***

(String of Tamaranian babble. Indecipherable.)

***Return to Normal/Sabbath's POV***

Pushing her hair back with one hand as she stood, Sabbath smiled, hoping against hope that their reactions were positive. A blank look of shock and amazement was painted on each face (except Raven, who looked mildly uneasy), and for a moment there was just a stunned silence. However, as Sabbath's smile was beginning to falter, the Titans erupted in cheers and compliments.

"Jane, that was terrific!"

"Well alriiiight!"

"Stupendous!"

"Interesting…"

"Duuuude!"

Never having gotten this kind of reaction before, especially from a group, Sabbath was taken by surprise. Her strained, nervous smile became genuine and she could feel happy tears begin to prick at the backs of her eyes (though she did everything in her power to keep them from spilling out). Slowly, Sabbath approached the cheering Titans. "I've…I've never shown anyone that before," she said softly, unable to contain such strong emotions. _'This must be what acceptance feels like,'_ she thought to herself.

Her face was flushed and a light sweat had broken out across her skin, but the Titans didn't seem to notice. Robin and Cyborg, both clearly impressed, offered her wide smiles and strong high-fives.

"Hard to believe a little net cannon took you down," Cyborg said. Sabbath flinched a little before smiling back at him. It was hard to believe, as much as it was embarrassing to relive.

Starfire then approached, wielding another bone-crushing hug, and said, "Perfectly glorious!"

Beast Boy managed to coax Starfire to release her death grip so he could offer Sabbath his own brief, more human (though, due to the presence of his friends, a very manly) hug. "That was great, you really are amazing," he whispered in her ear before pulling away and high-fiving her with a louder, "Dude that was AWSOME!"'

"Heh, thanks you guys," Sabbath said, smiling (and luckily her already flushed skin hid the blush that resulted from Beast Boy's soft compliment). "Really." She began to feel slightly uncomfortable being the center of so much attention.

"On my planet," Starfire chimed in, "such magnificence and victory is marked with a feast."

"Star's right, y'all," Cyborg said. "Who wants pizza?"

"I'm in!" Robin said.

Raven was, again, silent. However, it seemed her approval was implied, since she didn't cry, leave, or start throwing punches.

"As long as it's vegetarian," Beast Boy said, although his tone said he knew very well he'd end up picking large amounts of various greasy meats off his pizza.

"You're a vegetarian?" Sabbath asked.

"Yep, %100!" the green boy replied, grinning. "Are you?"

Sabbath swore she saw stars glittering in his eyes at the mere idea of her being vegetarian. "Uh, no, not really," she said, hating to see the disappointment he tried to conceal. "Sorry."

"Ah, no biggie," he replied. "You probably just never had tofu pizza the way I make it!"

"No one ever should!" Cyborg chimed in, having overheard. "Jane, if he ever tries to make you eat anything with the word 'tofu' in it, just back away slowly." That earned him a dirty look from the shape shifter. Sabbath was beginning to suspect there was a long history of rivalry between the pro-meat and pro-soy teens. Beast Boy left Sabbath's side then to argue with the robot-boy.

Sabbath hung back a moment, watching the Titans walk towards the door leading down off the roof. They acted closer than friends, more like a family. A happy, close family. She wondered if she could ever really belong with them. It had been her experience that close friends like that were usually too tightly knit together and too used to each other's' company to allow any newcomers, even if they didn't consciously know it.

Suddenly, Beast Boy turned away from the group and called back to Sabbath, "Hey Jane, c'mon!"

"Yeah, what're you waitin' for, girl?" Added Cyborg.

_'Maybe I was wrong,_' Sabbath thought to herself. Out loud, she replied, "Right behind you!" as she pulled on her sweatshirt, stuffed the iHome back in her bag, and jogged to join the heroes as they descended the stairs.

Once they were out of the stairway, Sabbath recognized her surroundings. They all stood in front of the elevator she and Beast Boy had used the last time she was in the Tower. Somehow, she and all the Titans managed to pile into it comfortably (Sabbath would've sworn it was a much smaller elevator the last time she'd seen it). It also took a lot longer to get down to the garage than last time, too.

Once in the garage, Sabbath also recognized the two vehicles; the large, blue and white car and the red motorcycle. The Titans approached the car, and Cyborg said, "A'ight, pile in y'all! Yo, BB, no paws on the leather interior, huh? Ah! Star-careful- that's fresh paint!" He fretted over that car like nothing Sabbath had ever seen. Yet, everyone seemed to just ignore him and treat the car like a car.

Raven got in first, followed by Starfire and a canine BB (despite Cyborg's warnings). Robin took shotgun, and Cyborg took the wheel. Lastly, Sabbath slid into the backseat next to Beast Boy and shut the door behind her (carefully, so as not to agitate Cyborg).

Cyborg started the engine and pushed a button on the dashboard that opened the garage door. The car shot out of the garage and sped towards town at a pace that, to Sabbath, seemed kind of over the speed limit. But, she figured if cops could speed, so too could superheroes (plus, she imagined this car wouldn't look nearly as cool driving at grandma speeds). As they cruised down the road, Robin and Cyborg chatted, Raven ignored the world, and Starfire sat amused with the green dog that was now sitting in her lap. Sabbath wasn't jealous or anything though; nope, not one bit…

Sabbath leaned against the door and peered out the window at the unfamiliar landscape whizzing by. She must've hit something with her elbow though, because all of a sudden, the window she'd been leaning against was opening. By the time she realized she'd been doing it, it was all the way down. Feeling the sudden breeze blowing into the car, Beast Boy shot up out of Star's lap. He had his hind legs on the seat between her and Sabbath, and his front paws on the door where the window had just been. He stuck his head out the window, barking and drooling (eesh…Sabbath started to wonder how much of the boy's brain remained when he turned into a dog). This earned him a few shouts and threats from Cyborg, but if he understood he paid no mind. Beast Boy's tail was even wagging, hitting Star's arm. It looked like it would've hurt, at least a little, but she simply laughed like she was being tickled. Raven wasn't amused in the slightest, and simply turned further away.

Beast Boy stayed like that for a few minutes, and Sabbath couldn't help but smile. Even though she was more of a cat person, she decided this dog was alright.

"B! What did I say about droolin' on my car?" Cyborg yelled. He hit another button on the dashboard, and the window slowly slid closed, forcing Beast Boy back into the car. If there had been room for him to resume his human form, Sabbath didn't doubt he would have, just to yell back at Cyborg. So instead, he shot an angry look (if dogs could give angry looks) towards the robot boy before sullenly returning to Starfire's lap, his back facing Sabbath. When Star began scratching the dog behind the ears, Sabbath had to look away yet again.

Why was she feeling like this? It was ridiculous, really. She barely knew Beast Boy, if she could even say she knew him at all. Yes, he'd been nice to her, but maybe he was one of those people who were nice to everybody? She'd seen him twice now in her whole life; she had no business staking any sort of claim on him. Plus, she'd already learned how strong Starfire was when she almost took her head off with a soccer ball. She probably couldn't take her in a fight. But still, seeing him in Stafire's lap, even if he was in dog form, was painful.

***Raven's POV***

The increasing level of angst in the car was disgustingly overwhelming. Although she couldn't read minds word for word, Raven could sense the feelings Jane had for Beast Boy, as well as how much it pained her to see him in Starfire's lap. What was Jane's problem? It's not like she knew Beast Boy or anything. She'd seen him TWICE in her entire life. Was she an obsessive fan girl or something? Not that it mattered though. All that mattered was that Jane's angst was making it hard to breathe. Raven considered opening a window, but after seeing Beast Boy jump for the one Jane had opened (like THAT had been an accident), she instantly decided against it. The only solution left was to get Beast Boy away from Starfire, at least for the rest of the car ride.

***Return to Normal/Sabbath's POV***

Raven looked over at Beast Boy with a disgusted look on her face. "Beast Boy, you're drooling all over the seat. And me. Take your dog slobber somewhere else," she said, pointing away from her.

"Oh he better not be! BB..!" Cyborg warned

If dogs could look offended, Sabbath would swear Beast Boy did. He stood up in Star's lap and turned so he was now facing Sabbath. In the blink of an eye, there was suddenly a good-sized green snake coiled up where the dog had just been. Starfire tensed up and looked about to shriek. The serpent Beast Boy seemed to sense her discomfort and so slithered into Sabbath's lap instead.

Sabbath wasn't afraid of snakes or anything, but she'd never exactly held one before, never mind had one crawl on her. Her hands were in her lap, which put them in the snake's path. She withheld a flinch when he touched her skin. She'd always expected snakes to be slimy or gross somehow, but this one wasn't. In fact, it was just the opposite. Its smooth scales felt soft and dry. Instead of curling up in her lap, as she had expected it would, the snake took a sudden turn up her left arm. It slithered up the sleeve of her hoodie, across her shoulder, around the back of her neck, and down her right arm. It stayed like that, about a foot of it hanging off her left shoulder. She lifted her right arm to bring the snake's face closer to her own. A soft "Wow," was all she could utter. Apparently he could turn into more than just a dog. The snake flicked its tongue out once as if in agreement before turning its head to gaze out the window.

Finally, they pulled up to their destination. As Sabbath stepped out of the car (the Beast Boy snake still around her shoulders), she looked up and recognized the place from her late night flight (_'Had that been just last night?'_ Sabbath wondered). It was the pizza parlor with a balcony shaped like a pizza slice. Once everyone was out of the car, the snake slithered to the ground, where it immediately resumed human form.

"I SO wasn't drooling!" fumed the shape shifter; his face darkening in what Sabbath assumed was anger. Or embarrassment. Sabbath had to stifle a laugh at such an outburst. The other people on the street gave him weird looks but, then again, the guy was green.

Raven ignored his anger and simply continued walking towards the pizza parlor, but Cyborg responded with a skeptical, "Uh-huh…" as he activated a complicated-looking alarm system on the car.

Before the green boy had a chance to come up with a good comeback, the car's lights flashed twice to show the alarm was set, and Cyborg called out, "Come on y'all, last one in's a rotten egg!" as he closed the car's door and took off running. Robin ran ahead of him, clearly determined to win. Raven stepped aside as she two boys shot past her at light speed, apparently not at all interested in their games. Starfire ran to catch up to them, laughing, although Sabbath suspected she didn't actually get the concept of the race. Beast Boy stalked towards the doors, arms crossed, muttering to himself about various aspects of the day he found to be unfair. Sabbath stood there a moment before following them in. She noticed this time that no one turned back to see if she was following. Would they really notice or care if she just turned around and headed home? _'Probably not,'_ she thought to herself. But then again, she'd come here to get to know them and get some answers; this was not the time for self-pity. So, hitching her bag further up onto her shoulder, Sabbath followed the Titans into the restaurant.

Inside, it was a lot busier and more crowded than she'd expected. From the outside she hadn't even imagined this many tables could fit inside, and each one of them was occupied by at least two people. However, none of these people were dressed like comic book heroes. How could they just have disappeared? Sabbath looked around in confusion for a moment before spotting a stairway labeled "PATIO" at the other end of the room. Squeezing her way between tables, chairs, and waiters, she finally made it to the stairs.

Fortunately, the patio was far more spacious than the main floor. There were maybe five or six round tables with red, pepperoni-like umbrellas. Only half of them were taken, so it was easy to spot the Titans. Sabbath made her way towards the teens, who were apparently right in the middle of a heated debate.

"Pepperoni is meat!"

"Is not! Steak is meat, ham is meat, but pepperoni is like hot dogs. And hot dogs ain't meat!"

"He's correct, Beast Boy. Earth hot dogs contain more bugs and factory chemical byproducts than actual meat."

"…"

"…"

"What about chicken?"

"Dude, seriously?" With that, Beast Boy became a green chicken. A real, live chicken, sitting right there on the table. It made its way towards Robin and stood on his menu, staring at him. There was an awkward pause as Robin began to sweat a little.

Unable to stand the silence and the chicken's cold stare, he finally demanded, "What?"

The chicken gave Robin's left arm a good peck.

"Ow! Hey, cut it out!" he cried, grabbing his arm. There were no holes in his glove from the bird's attack, but Sabbath (who was still standing off to the side a bit, not wanting to interrupt or be thrown into the middle of the argument) suspected it still hurt. "Alright, fine! No chicken!"

"I propose a large pizza with eggs, mustard, and pineapple."

Another lull in the conversation followed Starfire's strange comment. Sabbath decided then was as good a time as any to approach the table. Beast Boy was the first to notice her.

"There you are!" he cried, resuming his human form and taking his seat.

"Yep, here I am!" Sabbath replied cheerfully.

"We thought you got lost," Cyborg joked.

"Saved you a seat," Beast Boy said, waving her towards the empty portion of bench between him and Raven.

"Perhaps Jane can settle our pizza topping argument?" Starfire offered.

"Yeah!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "Tell these guys that chicken and pepperoni are meat!"

"Um…well, pepperoni, I'm not so sure about…but chicken is definitely meat," she replied.

"But you can't have a pizza without meat!" Cyborg cried.

"'Veggie Special,' right there, dude," Beast Boy said, holding up his menu and smugly pointing to where it depicted the aforementioned pizza. The other Titans (except Raven, who was keeping out of the whole thing) seemed somewhat disgusted by what they saw. Even Starfire looked a little disturbed. Sabbath looked where Beast Boy was pointing, and suddenly she couldn't blame them. It looked like a pizza, that is, it had a pizza crust and general shape to it, but other than that it was completely alien and just plain unappetizing. It was covered in green and purple things; cucumbers, olives, eggplant, cucumber, cabbage, and was that grass? It was an abomination and went against all that was good and natural about pizza. The cheese wasn't even visible.

"Um, Beast Boy," Sabbath began. "I think you could plant that thing and an entire garden would grow. Does it even have cheese on it?"

"Of course it has cheese! All natural soy cheese."

"Auhg, that's it!" Cyborg moaned, resting his head in his hands. "What is wrong with you?"

"What kind of pizza do you like, Jane?" Robin asked, ignoring Cyborg's wails of complaint.

"Well, it's a little weird, and most people don't like it…" she said, unsure as to just how strict these guys were about what was and wasn't allowed on pizza. However, her response had gained the attention of the rest of the team (except Raven). The two boys even stopped their fighting and turned to face her.

"What is it?" Beast Boy asked, ever the curious one.

"It involves pepperoni, so you might not like it Beast Boy," she continued. "But my favorite's always been pepperoni, onions, and jalapeno peppers. It's super spicy, and most people can't handle it."

Cyborg and Robin must've detected a hint of challenge in her voice, because they looked at each other briefly before simultaneously replying, "Sounds good!" with a glint in their eyes that said "challenge accepted!"

Eventually, it was decided that they would order a large, half cheese, and half pepperoni-jalapeno-onion pizza. With a side of mustard. Once the pizza arrived, the rest of the afternoon seemed to fly by. Sabbath had more fun with these people she'd just met than she could ever remember. Over the course of the meal, they all talked and got to know each other. Apparently, superheroes really existed all over the world. The Titans were the local branch, but they had a cousin team up towards the northeast called Titans East (because Titans North- East didn't sound nearly as cool). Starfire was an alien from the planet Tamaran. Robin really was the ex-sidekick of the Batman, who really did reside in Gotham City (the movies were made with his permission as a sort of auto-biography). Raven was the quiet one. Cyborg really was part robot (right down to his central nervous system). And Beast Boy was a shape shifter capable of turning into any animal in the world (and beyond). They'd established their group years ago, and had lived in the Tower ever since, protecting the city from abnormal criminals and villains whenever needed.

Sabbath was enchanted. She couldn't believe she'd moved to a town with real, live super heroes. But they didn't act like she imagined super heroes would, even teenaged ones. They bickered and challenged each other like siblings, yet always seemed to be on generally good terms with each other. Sabbath began to feel like one of them. She joined in their joking and story-telling. She mediated the fight over the last slice. She joined Starfire and Beast Boy in a vote as to who handled the spicy pizza the best. Overall, she had a great time. She didn't even feel the suffocating heat of her sweatshirt like she usually did (and luckily no one asked her why she was wearing it. The Titans didn't seem too big on probing questions. She liked that about them). It was the kind of day that was so much fun, it didn't seem like it could ever end. Yet all the while, Sabbath could feel the sun slowly beginning to lower in the sky. She knew, sooner or later, she'd have to go back to the Millers.

But for the time being, she decided to forget all that. She blocked out the world of homework, impatient parents, and a setting sun. Looking around the table, it seemed that's what the Titans were doing as well, although Sabbath suspected they lived every day of their lives like that. She doubted they had any problems at all; they had the perfect life. Looking around the table, she noted the smiling faces, laughter, cheering, belch contests, and harmless dirty looks. And here she was, in the middle of it all, even if only for today.

After what felt like only minutes, the pizza was gone, glasses were drained, and it was time to leave. They all stood up from the table and headed back towards the stairs off the balcony. However, no one had paid the bill. The waitress had brought it to them of course, and Robin had looked it over and quickly jotted something down, but had never produced any form of payment. OK, Sabbath didn't care how rich they were; no one could go to a restaurant and just not pay. Feeling awkward Sabbath hung back a moment, unsure how to handle the situation. Surely they wouldn't just ditch the check, right?

Once again, Beast Boy was looking out for her. "Hey, come on, what are you waiting for?"

"Um, don't we have to pay?" she replied awkwardly.

"Oh, no, it's cool. We have a deal with the city; we keep them safe from all the things the cops can't handle, and they pay us by not making us pay for stuff. Around here, a Titan's signature is as good as cash!" he assured her with a smile.

"Yo, come one y'all! Last one to the car has to do dishes for a month!" Cyborg yelled out. But before Sabbath could answer either Titan, and before anyone even reached the stairs, an inhuman, blood-curdling screech emanated from the next block over, freezing everyone's blood in their veins.


	8. Chapter 7: Fighting As A Titan

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 7

A/N: This is Chapter 7 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

PS. Now the story should start to pick up. Keep in mind, chapters with Titans in them will take me a little longer to write, since it involves having 5 extra voices in my head (also, college tends to interfere with one's schedule). But to make up for it, those chapters will probably end up being longer.

* * *

><p><p>

An animal-like howl echoed from the next block over, freezing everyone's blood in their veins. It was unlike anything Sabbath had ever heard in her life. _'What was that?'_ she wondered to herself. She thought back to the time she'd fought (or rather, tried to fight) that big rock thing; "Cinderblock," the Titans had called it. It too had howled and roared, but not like this. No, this was something else.

"Plasmus," Robin said, a grim expression on his face as he stared out across the street, as if he could see through the buildings blocking his view.

"'Plasmus?'" Sabbath asked quietly, her gaze following everyone else's towards the source of the sound.

"Giant snot monster," Beast Boy clarified, a disgusted look on his face. Sabbath didn't know what to make of that, not wanting to imagine anything that gross.

Another screech echoed down the street, this time seeming closer than the last. By now the screams of citizens accompanied it's howls, as well as various crashes and car horns.

"Titans, GO!" Robin cried. Then, without even looking back to ensure they were following him, the boy took a running start and leaped over the edge of the patio. There was at least an entire story's fall down to the ground. Panicked and speechless, Sabbath could do nothing except run and look over the edge of the patio. Robin had landed in a crouch, appearing completely unharmed. He then immediately stood up and started running towards the screams.

Not needing to be told twice, the rest of the Titans followed his lead and vaulted over the ledge. Apparently, Starfire and Raven could fly, and Beast boy turned into an Eagle, but what about Cyborg? Amazed, Sabbath simply watched as the two boys jumped off the patio, one after the other. Surprisingly, Beast Boy clamped his claws around Cyborg's shoulders and flew him down to the sidewalk. Once on the ground, Cyborg took off running, accompanied by a now green cheetah. It seemed Beast Boy could change in the blink of an eye.

However, before Sabbath had time to get lost in her thoughts, Starfire turned back in mid-air and called back to Sabbath, "Jane-friend! Assist us!"

"Right behind you!" Sabbath yelled, though she began to wonder exactly what kind of assistance she could actually be to them. Then a more immediate problem arose; how to get down from the balcony as quickly as possible? Surely she couldn't just jump like Robin had. Robin was a legendary ninja, a boy wonder! His stunts were definitely not to be tried at home. She could fly, but there were still people on the balcony, not to mention the crowd gathering down on the street. It seemed people had relaxed, having realized the Titans were on the job, and so decided to sit back and watch the show. Her only option was to go back through the restaurant and use the stairs. So, kicking her back pack under the table she'd just been sitting at, Sabbath turned and ran full speed down the stairs. Unfortunately, the restaurant was still pretty crowded. It felt rude, but she had to push and shove her way through the crowd.

"Excuse me, pardon me," she yelled as she ran, trying not to push anyone over. "Emergency! Titan coming through!" She wasn't totally sure why she added that last part, it had just come out before she could stop it. But it was nonsense; she wasn't a Titan. Nonetheless, it had felt good saying it. It felt right.

Bursting through the front doors, Sabbath turned left and ran down the sidewalk in the direction she'd seen the Titans go. Coming to the intersection, she turned right, following the increasingly loud sounds of destruction and fighting. Rounding the final corner, Sabbath came upon an incredible sight.

There before her stood a giant, purple…well, snot monster. Beast boy was right, that's pretty much what it was; a giant, purple snot monster with arms, legs, and a screeching mouth full of jagged teeth. Boy was it loud! But even more incredible than the two-story tall booger were the people fighting it. A green elephant charged it head on, Cyborg blasted it with some kind of blue-light gun on his arm, Robin threw explosives (some of which froze large portions of the monster on contact), Raven picked up cars and rubble with that black energy of hers and hurled them at the thing, and Starfire just plain beat the crap out of it; kicking, punching, shooting green lasers and orbs. The Titans were attacking it as a team, and seemed to be doing some damage. However, they took some damage themselves. The monster deflected a chunk of cement back at Raven, hitting her in the shoulder. Starfire got tossed into a nearby building. Beast Boy got repeatedly shot at with streams of purple goo. But they kept at it. The monster screeched and howled in protest, stomping and swinging clumsily at their quick forms. Every once in a while, it spewed purple slime on them, temporarily gluing them to the ground or just plain grossing them out. It seemed to be able to regenerate portions of its body that were frozen or blasted away, only to have them blasted away once more.

Leaping up and plunging a bow-staff into the beast's chest, Robin climbed up and over its shoulder, landing on the ground behind it. Looking up, he noticed Sabbath's arrival (and the dumb, awe-struck look on her face). "Jane, come on! Give us a hand!" he yelled, snapping her out of it. Unfortunately, his yelling had gained the monsters attention. It turned around and spewed gallons and gallons of purple sludge, completely burying him.

"Robin!" she cried, scared for him once again. He didn't reply.

Well that did it. This monster had just messed with the wrong Titans. She'd make it pay dearly for hurting her new friends. Taking off her sweatshirt and tying it tightly around her waist, Sabbath stretched out her black bat wings, cracked her knuckles, and said, "Alright, snot monster, you asked for it."

The monster now turned its attention to her, satisfied that Robin had been taken out of the game. Sabbath flew straight up in the air, getting eye level with, well, where its eyes would be if it had any. Instead it seemed to have massive, yellow blisters (eewww…). It looked at her curiously (even without eyes, it was clear that's what it was doing), as if not sure what to make of her. The other Titans had stopped in their assaults to watch her. After a moment it grinned, deciding she wasn't a threat. It raised an arm to swat her down to the ground.

"Jane, look out!" Beast Boy cried. But she was stronger than he gave her credit for. Anger in her eyes, Sabbath summoned flames to encompass her entire arm (though not burning her new arm warmers!). Before the monster could hit her with its slimy, dripping fist, Sabbath punched it with her flaming arm. Fire exploded outward from her fist, racing up the monster's arm. Plasmus recoiled and screamed in pain, desperately flailing its flaming, smoking appendage. The stench was horrible, but Sabbath focused and forced the flames to stay there (she could make flames stay on the surface of water if she tried hard enough. They were fueled purely by her own energy, not necessarily the surface they touched) as long as possible. After a few minutes she evaporated the flames, wanting to see if they'd done any damage.

***Crowd's POV***

"Thank God, the Titans are here!"

"Yeah! They'll stop that…um, whatever it is!"

"Hey, look, is that a new Titan?"

"Yeah, I think so. She looks kinda creepy though."

"Did she just set that thing on fire?"

"Wow!"

"Hey, check it out, Titans got a new recruit!"

"Yeah, and she totally kicks butt! Not like Starfire though, Starfire's the best."

"No way, man, Raven's the best."

"I think Beast Boy's the coolest!"

"Yeah, you would."

"My mom will never believe this!"

"Betcha this goes viral on YouTube!"

Etc., etc.

***Return to Normal/Sabbath's POV***

Satisfyingly enough, the monster's arm was blackened, and significantly thinner than its other arm. Sabbath watched it try to regenerate itself, but the charred surface of its arm prevented it. It turned back to face her and threw back its head, screeching in rage. The other Titans continued to watch, including Robin, who'd been dug out of the monster's goo by a teary-eyed Starfire. They wanted to see if she was actually capable of taking it down by herself- which would have been absolutely incredible- but were ready to join back in if the situation demanded.

Sabbath smirked at the monster's rage. "Heh, that was interesting. So, you burn, huh? Let's see if you're water soluble too!" After all the energy she'd exerted over the course of the day, she was starting to feel tired. With a good portion of her energy already depleted, she couldn't summon enough water out of the air to do the beast any real damage. Luckily, she'd spotted a fire hydrant when she'd turned the corner. Keeping eye contact with Plasmus, Sabbath stretched an arm out behind her towards the hydrant. It immediately exploded up off the pavement and fell back down with a metallic clang. A geyser of water erupted out of the ground where it had been, but instead of splashing down to the ground, it turned and rushed towards Sabbath's outstretched hand. Using almost all of what was left of her strength, Sabbath strained to thrust her arm around, forcing the massive (and actually quite heavy) blast of water right into the monster's face.

If it had eyes, Sabbath imagined they'd be the size of its head right about then. It opened its mouth to scream in terror, but didn't get the chance. The force of the gushing geyser slammed right into its head. It stumbled a few steps backwards before toppling over completely, splattering purple goo everywhere. The water kept coming, and Sabbath directed it to follow the beast down to the ground. Once it fell, Sabbath pulled the water back and re-routed it to the nearest sewer drain, since she found she couldn't stop it from flowing (oops). The monster didn't move, seemingly out for the count.

Slowly lowering herself to the ground, Sabbath then cautiously approached it's still form, her exhausted legs threatening to give out from under her. Expecting to see an unconscious slime ball, she got the shock of her life when she saw a mostly-naked man lying unconscious in a ring of purple slime. The other Titans came up behind her for a closer look as well, though didn't seem nearly as surprised.

"Um, what the hell?" Sabbath asked, totally thrown for a loop.

"Plasmus is actually a man," a somewhat slimy Robin replied, standing supported by Starfire's inhumanly strong arm. The redheaded alien then bent to retrieve Robin's bow-staff- which had been semi- buried in the goo- while still managing to hold the boy upright. "But he's only human when he's sleeping," Robin continued. "Wake him up, and he becomes the monster you just saw."

Suddenly too overwhelmed and exhausted to argue, Sabbath's knees began to shake. She knew she was about to collapse, but was too tired to do anything about it. She hadn't used this much energy in one day since, well, ever. This was a first. There was that practice session at the dump, then the show at Titan's Tower, and now she'd just taken down a giant snot monster-man. Not to mention her late night flight around the city the night before.

However, before she could hit the ground, Sabbath felt strong, yet lean arms around her, standing her up but not releasing her. Looking up, she saw Beast Boy staring into her eyes with a mix of worry and awe. "Jane, you ok?" he asked. "Dude! I can't believe you took out Plasmus with two hits! It was like, Boom, Splash! Out for the count! That was amazing!" he continued, too excited to hold back.

Sabbath could do nothing but smile weakly as she replied, "Thanks, but it wasn't just me. I saw you guys do a good amount of damage yourselves. And I'm fine, just kind of over did it today…" Her eyes started to droop, and Beast Boy's comfortable embrace wasn't helping. She decided walking would be the best way to wake herself up, even though she wasn't positive she could trust her own legs at this point.

Then, when she looked over Beast Boy's shoulder, she noticed the sun already half hidden below the horizon and panicked. Suddenly not as tired, she stepped out of Beast Boy's arms and quickly said, "Sorry to leave so suddenly, but I have to get home. If I'm not back by 6pm I'm worse than dead. Thanks for everything, you guys, it was great to finally get to know you. See you around!"

Before she could take more than three shaky steps back towards the pizza parlor and the main street, Cyborg offered, "Hey! Want us to give you a lift?"

"Um," Sabbath hesitated. She didn't want to bother them, make them go out of their way for someone they'd just met; but considering her current physical state, she decided to accept the offer. "Yeah, if it's not too far out of your way."

"It's no problem at all," Robin replied, still supported by a somewhat worried Starfire. "Where do you live?"

"Just past the High School," she replied.

"The cheap, public one!" Beast Boy chimed in; remembering her exact words from the first time they'd met. Sabbath couldn't help but smile at the memory of that night.

"Oh yeah, I know where that is," Cyborg responded, much like Beast Boy had. "It's actually not too far from here."

Smiling gratefully at the Titans, Sabbath joined them as they walked back to the car as a group. As she walked, however, she became conscious once again of all the bystanders watching them, and of the fact that her sweatshirt was still tied around her waist. Once they arrived at the car, Sabbath stopped a moment to quickly untie it and pull it on, though she didn't bother to zip it up like she usually did. She then slid into the backseat after Raven and Starfire, and a kitten Beast Boy jumped into her lap before she shut the door.

"Oh, wait!" she exclaimed before Cyborg had a chance to start the car. "I think I forgot my bag at the table." As she pushed open the door, Beast Boy unexpectedly jumped from her lap, turned back into an eagle, and made a beeline for the balcony. He returned moments later, holding her bag in one claw. Once back at the car, he turned back into a human in the blink of an eye. He stretched out his hand, offering her the backpack, and bowed slightly as he said, "Your bag, milady." Sabbath hadn't even had a chance to open the door all the way.

Smiling at Beast Boy's butler impersonation (and adorableness), she took the bag and responded, "Why thank you, kind sir." Sabbath thought she saw his face flush a dark, dark green for a moment, but didn't have time to be certain, as the shape shifter once again resumed his feline form and jumped into her lap. Was he purring?

Placing her bag on the floor of the car to make more room for the kitten, Sabbath automatically began scratching the cat behind the ears as she tiredly gazed out the window. She couldn't help it; it had been a long time since she'd had a pet. Plus, Beast Boy didn't seem to mind, he just purred louder.

All too soon, Cyborg was pulling over in front of the High School. "Alright Jane, which way from here?"

Sabbath looked up and gazed around the familiar neighborhood a moment before pointing him in the right direction. Once they turned onto her street, Sabbath froze. "Aw, crap!" she whispered. Her parents' van had just pulled into the driveway. "Uh, here's fine Cyborg," she said. The robot boy pulled the car over and parked four houses down from her own.

"So this is you?" he asked, looking up at the house they'd stopped at.

"Er, no," she corrected. "That's me," she said, pointing towards her house. "But my folks just pulled in."

"Is that a bad thing?" Robin asked.

"It is if I was supposed to be spending the day shopping with a couple girls I met at school," she replied. The Titans didn't seem to know how to respond to that. "Anyways, I better go. Thanks again for the ride, guys. I really don't think I would've had the energy to make the trek home."

"What if you flew?" Robin asked. "Wouldn't it have been shorter to just make a straight line home?"

"It would have, but look around you. It's still light out."

"So…?"

"I don't fly during the day unless it's an emergency. I don't really relish the idea of being shot down or scaring half the town into a panic."

"Has…that been a problem?" Robin asked, looking concerned.

"Well, what would you do if you saw what appeared to be a giant bat flying over your house?" Sabbath asked him. Her face flushed red as she suddenly realized who she was talking to. She muttered a brief "never mind" and quickly turned to open the door.

Because he'd been in her lap, Beast Boy had to get out first. Once on the sidewalk, he immediately resumed his human form. He offered her his hand as she climbed out of the car, but she held on to the door jamb instead, not wanting to seem totally helpless. She hitched her bag up onto her shoulder and shut the car's door behind her.

"So…" Beast Boy began awkwardly, not knowing what to say exactly, but not wanting her to just leave like that. Then an idea came to him. "Hey, you said you'd be in trouble if you were late getting home, right? What if you just said you ran into us? Wouldn't it be easier than making something up?"

"You would think so," Sabbath replied. "But unfortunately, the Millers are about as closed-minded as it gets. They're nice people, but I can't tell them about any of this. I can't even mention my powers around them without things getting awkward and uncomfortable," she said sadly, watching her foster parents unload groceries from the trunk. "I can't even imagine what they'd think of you guys."

"Oh…" Beast Boy said, again unsure how to respond.

After a few moments, she continued glumly, "Bet you ten bucks that they don't even hug me when I go over there."

"Huh? What makes you say that?"

"They never hug me. That's how uncomfortable they are with what I am. The only time they ever hugged me was…was the day they adopted me. Apparently, all my papers said was "special needs". But I was the only one at the age they were looking for. I had a hoodie on every time they'd visited, so they couldn't see my wings. I guess they just figured I was autistic or something. But once they signed all the paperwork, they hugged me in celebration as they told me they were my new family. But then they gasped and recoiled like there was something gross and wrong with me. Mr. Miller slid my sweatshirt down off my shoulders, and that's when they saw. At first the true shock they felt was plain on their faces. But they'd signed paperwork, there was no turning back. So they played it off like it was nothing and went right back to smiling. But from that day on I knew everything was a big act. It still is," she explained dryly. There was no emotion showing on her face. If there were, it would've been solid pain. Or anger. Or both. But Sabbath never let anyone see her cry, so for the moment she had to hold all emotions inside, lest an ugly one escape.

Beast Boy was speechless, so instead he gave a physical answer. Without warning, he wrapped her in the biggest, warmest hug in the world. He looped his arms under hers and around her back, fully embracing her; wings, backpack, and all. He pulled her tightly against him and just held her there. Her wing's flinched at the sudden contact before relaxing against his arms. Sabbath hadn't been prepared for anything like that. Her emotional barricade was already at maximum capacity holding back painful memories. But now, add exhaustion and Beast Boy's sweetness to the equation and she was completely overwhelmed. She couldn't help it; tears silently flooded down her cheeks as she briefly rested her head on his shoulder. No one had ever hugged her like that, ever. She couldn't speak, so she just returned the embrace. After decades or seconds –Sabbath couldn't tell which, just that it wasn't long enough-, he released her. She quickly scrubbed the tear tracks from her face and smiled.

"I'd better go," she said softly, pointing towards her house where her foster parents were now unlocking the front door. She then turned to wave good-bye to the car of Titans and said more loudly, "See you around! And thanks again!"

Raven ignored her, Robin and Starfire waved back, and Cyborg tooted the car's horn. As Sabbath turned to walk down the sidewalk, she heard Beast Boy re-enter the backseat –this time in human form now that there was enough room- to a barrage of teasing and whistling from the other two boys. She knew they were only messing with him, and that they'd all laugh about it later, yet she could still imagine how dark the shape shifter's face must be right about then.

Sabbath was still smiling when she got to her driveway. Meanwhile, the Millers were still in the process of loading grocery bags out of the van.

Unfortunately, Cyborg's car horn had drawn Mrs. Miller's attention. She paused and looked up from what she was doing. "Sabbath? Is that you, honey?"

"Hi, Mom!" she replied cheerfully.

"Sabbath, sweetie! You're home! Oh and just in time! Be a dear and take these bags inside?" Mrs. Miller said, handing Sabbath a pair of grocery bags. The last thing she wanted to do was carry heavy bags, but since she couldn't exactly explain how she'd drained 95% of her energy, she simply took them without complaint. As she walked up the steps to the front door, she passed Mr. Miller, who was on his way out.

"Hello, Sabbath, glad you're home! Dinner's in half an hour, ok?" he said as he headed back to the van for more bags.

Just then, Sabbath heard the smooth sound of the Titans' car drive by behind her. She turned around on the front steps to watch them go. They smiled and waved, and she smiled back (waving would've raised questions from the Millers). Beast Boy was the only one, except for Raven, who wasn't as cheerful. He'd watched, she knew he had. He'd seen how the Millers interacted with her. She could tell he felt bad for her now, but she really didn't want to be pitied. She wasn't sure why she'd even told Beast Boy that sob story. Yes, it was one hundred percent true, but why bother telling anyone? She must've been tired enough to where the filter between her brain and her mouth was completely dissolved. She couldn't believe she'd also blabbed about being adopted, she'd never told anyone that! Crap! Why couldn't she just keep her mouth shut? At least he didn't know her real name. If he knew that, in addition to the fact that she was adopted, he might find out the alarming number of times she'd changed families in the past few years, and that would open up a whole other can of awkward-worms.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Sabbath trudged into the house and brought the bags into the kitchen. Normally, she'd have gone back out to carry more (why they'd bought so many groceries tonight, she was too tired to ask), but she could barely keep her eyes open. Placing the grocery bags on the counter and grabbing a water bottle from the nearly-empty (guess that's why) fridge, Sabbath turned and dragged herself up to her third-floor bedroom.

***Beast Boy's POV***

Jane just continued to amaze him. He still couldn't get over how she'd taken Plasmus down so easily! She really was like Terra; Terra was powerful too. Actually, Terra probably could've taken down that booger with ONE hit with no problem (but Raven was WRONG; Jane wasn't weak! Maybe she just wasn't used to fighting monsters!). She didn't physically resemble Terra, but everything else about her did. Maybe that was why it had broken his heart when she'd told him about her foster parents. Unfortunately, he knew all too well what rejection was like; he'd grown up a green shape shifter! He also knew what it was like to be adopted. The Doom Patrol had taken him in when he was little and been like his family. They'd accepted him as he was, though. He couldn't imagine what it was like for Jane, never finding anyone who cared about her. She'd acted so surprised when he'd hugged her (he still wasn't sure why he'd done that, and it didn't look like he'd be living it down any time soon), like she'd never been hugged before! She was just one big mystery after another. He was happy they'd gotten together again today. But just when he finally felt like he was getting to know her, she told him a whole new chapter of her life he'd known nothing about.

He had to see her again. He just HAD to. And he had knew he would; soon.

**Return to Normal/Sabbath's POV***

Once in her room, Sabbath shut the door firmly behind her, tossed her bag on her bed, set the water bottle on her nightstand, and shrugged out of her sweatshirt. Upon examination she found that, despite the fact it had spent most of the day tied around her waist, her sweatshirt had still managed to accumulate a few smudges of purple goo. Gross. Flinging the hoodie into the laundry hamper, Sabbath walked over and opened her closet to examine herself in the full-length mirror on the inside of the door. Eesh. Maybe this was why the Millers hadn't hugged her earlier 9though she doubted they'd even really noticed her appearance). She was surprised Beast Boy had dared to. Her hair was a total mess. Her face was streaky from tears and her eyes had massive black circles under them. She was a lot paler than usual, and dots of purple goo were congealing on her shirt, skirt, and boots. Overall, she just plain looked like crap.

Shuddering at the realization of exactly how much Plasmus there was on her clothes (her brand new clothes at that!), Sabbath quickly undressed and threw everything in the laundry hamper before walking into her bathroom for an extremely thorough shower. Half an hour later, Sabbath exited the bathroom and changed into her most comfortable pajamas.

Unwrapping her now curly hair from its towel, Sabbath sat down on her bed to empty her bag before passing out for the next decade (too tired to even care about missing dinner). The first thing she pulled out was a handful of plastic shopping bags. She threw those on the floor, telling herself she'd toss them in the trash tomorrow. Next, she pulled out the shirt she'd had on that morning and threw it in the clothes hamper. Then she pulled out her jeans, careful to shake them out before throwing them in the laundry, knowing her house key was in them somewhere. But as she did so, something much bigger than a house key clattered to the floor. What the-?

Setting the jeans and empty back pack aside, Sabbath bent down to retrieve the object. It was a palm-sized, fat, yellow disk. It had a belt clip on the back, a stubby, black antenna on the top, a few rubber buttons on left side, and…

A big, black "T" on the front.

_'Huh?'_ Sabbath wondered to herself. '_What is this thing?'_ Whatever it was, the T logo definitely determined it was Titan property. But how had it gotten in her bag? Had it fallen out of someone's pocket at the restaurant or something? Crap! She didn't want them to think she'd stolen something from them! But what to do? She was running out of excuses to get out of the house with no set destination. She could say she was going over a friend's house for a bit tomorrow, that they'd wanted to borrow a book of hers, but the Millers would want to know where the friend lived and why Sabbath couldn't just give it to them at school on Monday. Double-crap!

Just then, the thing started to beep and hiss with static. Had she broken it somehow? But how? She was just holding it! Oh, man, that's right; she'd dropped it! Oh crap oh crap oh-

*fzzt-fzzzzt* *kshhhhh* -"_Beast Boy calling Jane_…-" the device whispered, before returning to more static. Wait, what did it just say? Beast Boy? Was this thing some kind of walkie-talkie?

Sabbath noticed one of the 5 buttons on the left side was flashing. Pressing it on instinct, figuring it would let her talk back, she was surprised when the top flipped open and revealed a round screen. Beast Boy's green face was now smiling up at her from the device. A live video feed? This apparently wasn't your average walkie-talkie.

"Ah, there you are!" he said cheerfully. He acted as if everything were normal.

Sabbath, however, was becoming really confused. Had she already fallen asleep? Was she dreaming? "…Beast Boy?" she managed to whisper. "What is this thing? What's going on?"

"It's a communicator," he explained. "Titans use em to talk to each other. Kind of like a walkie-talkie, but cooler!" then his voice and expression changed as if he'd just realized something. "Whoa, your hair's different."

Sabbath choked. "You can see me?" she gasped, desperately shoving her palm over the device, in hopes of covering the camera, wherever it was. If she weren't so tired, she probably would've thought of the video feed working both ways as soon as she saw it.

"Haha! It's cool," the shape shifter continued. But he was wrong, it wasn't cool at all. Not only was her hair a curling mess, but the shower hadn't exactly washed away the hideous bags from under her bloodshot eyes, just the little make up that had been making her look somewhat civil. Regardless of what Beast Boy said, Sabbath kept her palm over the communicator.

***Beast Boy's POV***

So Jane had curly hair. Even though it was another thing about her that was a total opposite to Terra, he still found it pretty. Apparently, he'd caught her after a shower, too. Her hair was clearly still wet, a few stray locks plastered to her forehead. Her freshly washed skin glowed, making her eyes look even darker by comparison (though he could still detect the exhaustion barely concealed in them).

Good thing she'd covered the communicator though, or she'd have seen him blushing at the sight of her. Note to self; don't call people right after they take a shower. Not that he'd had any way of knowing that or anything; it was just a lucky coincidence. Wait, lucky? No, no, he didn't mean lucky, that'd be embarrassing. What he meant was-

***Return to Normal/Sabbath's POV As a Result of Beast Boy's Incessant Mental Blather***

"So who's is this?" Sabbath asked. "And how did it get in my bag? How did you know I had it?" Her exhausted mind was now on overload, spiraling with questions.

"It's yours," he replied, sounding slightly taken aback at all her questions. Why was this so confusing to her? "I gave it to you. Remember when I went and grabbed your bag for you before we left the pizza place?"

"Yeah…"

"I slipped this in it while I was up there. But even if I hadn't put it there, these things all have tracking devices in em, like in spy movies!" Even though his face wasn't visible, Sabbath could tell he was grinning.

But so this was hers? "Why'd you give me this?" she asked.

"Because, well, after seeing what you did to Plasmus today, I thought we could use your help again sometime…"

"But I'm no Titan. I might be a little weird, but I'm not a superhero."

"Doesn't mean you can't help. And technically, by receiving an authentic Titan communicator from an authentic Teen Titan, you ARE an official, honorary member. Well, you will be once I tell Robin."

Sabbath didn't know what to say. All she could do was slowly remove her hand from the communicator. She had to see his face, had to know he was serious. "Really?" she managed to whisper. She couldn't believe she was a real Titan!

"Totally!" Beast Boy replied, his smile growing at her awed expression.

Then, in the background, Sabbath heard someone yell, "Yo, BB! Who you talkin' to in there? You better not have brought another couch-destroying monster into this Tower!"

Couch-destroying…? Sabbath was too tired to ask.

Now it was Beast Boy's turn to smother his communicator. Did he just shove it under a blanket…? Sabbath suspected as much, but couldn't be sure. Then came his muffled reply, "Dude, I don't know what you're talking about, I wasn't talking to anyone. And don't call Silky a monster!" Then, after a moment, Beast Boy's face returned to the screen. "Heh, sorry about that," he said, this time keeping his voice lowered to a whisper.

"Talk to yourself later, man," Cyborg persisted. "It's movie time!"

For a moment, Beast Boy's face lit up. He looked ready to jump up and race Cyborg to the living room at the mention of "movie time", but then seemed to remember he had Sabbath on the line. "Uh…" he began awkwardly.

"Go ahead, Beast Boy. I'm about ready to pass out anyway. I'll talk to you later?"

"Yeah, definitely!" he said excitedly.

"Yo, B, c'mon man!"

"In a minute!" Beast Boy yelled back over his shoulder. Then facing the communicator again, he quickly added, "Oh, and to call me or any of the other Titans, just flip the communicator open and press a channel button while saying 'Jane calling' whoever it is you're looking for. The channel buttons are the ones on the side that light up. Robin's channel 1, Cyborg's channel 2, Raven's channel 3, I'm channel 4, and Star's channel 5."

Sabbath knew she'd never remember that in her current mental state. She could feel the last of her energy being used up just sitting upright and making coherent conversation. But she nodded in agreement nonetheless and said, "Alright, later, Beast Boy." She could feel her eyelids become heavy once again, and had to stifle a yawn. Then quickly remembering her manners, she added, "And thanks…for everything."

Understanding her completely (which was completely out of character for the shape shifter) and beginning to see how tired she was, Beast Boy smiled as he replied, "You're welcome. And welcome to the Titans."

Tiredly grinning as she turned out the lights, the last thing Sabbath heard the communicator whisper before she snapped it shut was, "Sweet dreams, Jane."


	9. Chapter 8: An Unforseen Problem

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 8

A/N: This is Chapter 8 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

The next day was, unfortunately, a Sunday. As such, Sabbath was required to get up early to attend Church with the Millers, regardless of how dead she still felt. She'd gotten about nine hours of sleep that night by skipping dinner, but it wasn't anywhere near enough. She'd drained almost 100% of her energy the day before. It was times like these she cursed the fact that her powers were directly connected to her vital energy. But on the bright side, her sleep had been blissfully nightmare-free; she figured the Dark Man was more than pleased with her. Looking back, she still couldn't believe how much she'd done yesterday. She smiled faintly at the memories of her clumsy performance at the Tower, of having pizza with the Titans, of defeating that Plasmus thing, of how great the Titans thought she was, and then of how Beast Boy had invited her to join the team. Beast Boy…

Sabbath sighed as she lost herself in thought, but a sharp elbow to the ribs from Mrs. Miller quickly brought her back to the present when she failed to stand at the proper cue in Mass. She stood without complaint. Attending mass was part of a deal she'd made with the Millers soon after they'd adopted her; she'd stay on the Principal's List in school and attend Mass, and they wouldn't make her go to Catholic School. She never thought it was a bad thing, except for certain Sunday mornings when she really would've preferred to sleep in; mornings like this one. But all it took was the thought of plaid skirts, white blouses, and navy knee socks and she was awake and ready to head out for Church.

The priest stopped talking for a moment, and Sabbath took her cue to sit. The deal was that she would attend Mass, but no one could force her to pay attention, and unless her brain was completely on another planet (a green, fanged, grinning planet perhaps?), it wasn't hard to follow the pattern of kneeling, sitting, and standing. As the sermon continued, Sabbath let her gaze wander the building's architecture; it really was beautiful. But once she remembered where she was, her brain imagined a large, purple snot monster crashing through the wall and spew slime all over the priest. It was nothing personal, just that she hated having to go there against her will. If Plasmus just happened to bust in, Mass would be cancelled, right? And then the Titans would have to come and fight him, and all the Catholic church-goers would flee in terror, screeching about unholy demons and the apocalypse…Sabbath grinned.

Eventually, it was time for the closing prayer. As the pews cleared out, Sabbath heaved a silent sigh of relief. Now, her obligations fulfilled for the day, she could go home and crawl right back into bed. Yes, sleep was definitely on the agenda. Hm, but then there was technically homework to attend to…No, homework could wait. Sleep came before homework. Despite how much she'd slept that night, she still wasn't quite herself.

In the ride home, Sabbath allowed her eyes to drift shut for just a moment, but was surprised when, in the blink of an eye, they were pulling up the driveway and cutting the engine. She must've been more tired than she thought. Once inside the house, Sabbath mumbled something about homework and reading before trudging up the two flights of stairs to her bedroom. She sighed.

Tossing off her sweatshirt and kicking her sneakers into the corner, Sabbath put her pajamas back on and slipped into bed. She'd get up in a few hours, she told herself, and get all of her homework done before dinner…

*-*

Sabbath angrily swatted at her alarm clock's snooze button. God she hated that thing. Unfortunately, it was necessary for waking her up in the mornings. Needless to say, after having been with her for several months, the snooze button now had impressions of three fingers melted into it. Sabbath was surprised it even still worked.

Wait, why was the alarm going off? It wasn't set to go off until Monday morning. Was it possible she'd slept ALL DAY SUNDAY? Wow, that was a first. Looking at her alarm clock's annoyingly cheerful blue screen to clarify the time and date, Sabbath saw that it was in fact Monday morning. Amazed with how much she'd slept, Sabbath started to feel a little concerned (since it couldn't possibly be healthy for her to require that much sleep), until she noticed how good she felt. Usually Monday mornings were like any other school morning; dull, painful, and just plain too early in the day. But today she actually felt refreshed. She'd regained all the energy she'd lost over the weekend, and it only took about 20 hours of sleep.

Going through her morning routine automatically, Sabbath realized as she stuffed notebooks into her backpack that she hadn't gotten any homework done. Oops. Maybe the teachers at this school weren't the type to care about homework. Plus, there was only about a month left of the school year now, so what did homework really matter at this point?

As she reached for her purse, she noticed how light it felt. Then she remembered she'd dumped everything into that little backpack she'd used that weekend. Retrieving the cloth knapsack from the floor by her bed, Sabbath reached in and pulled out her iPod, house key, and wallet. She also pulled out the round yellow communicator Beast Boy had given her. Sabbath thought for a moment as she looked it over, still not quite believing everything that had happened. Was she really a Teen Titan now? Well, if she were, she figured she should probably have the device on her at all times. Stuffing it in her purse without a second thought, Sabbath pulled on her sweatshirt, hiked her backpack onto her shoulder, and headed out for school.

The day dragged by at an incredibly sluggish pace. Sabbath needn't have worried so much about homework; it seemed none of the teachers really cared. By the time fourth period, Geometry, rolled around, the day was only half over and Sabbath was already bored to tears.

One of the downsides of attending multiple schools in a year is that they all have different curriculums for their classes. In her current Geometry class, they were studying a chapter that covered complementary angles; a topic her previous school had already covered weeks ago. It was an easy topic then, but now Sabbath just found it redundant. Also, it seemed a good number of her classmates had never heard of angles, never mind adjacent or complementary ones. The teacher had to stop his lecture every five minutes and explain some fundamental concept that should've been covered months ago. Or worse, something that was JUST mentioned but not heard by the obviously inattentive students. The class had been working on figuring out the same problem for ten minutes now.

Groaning, Sabbath slumped down in her seat in the back of the classroom and lay her head down on her desk, tuning out the teacher's obnoxious voice. _'This class is hell,'_ she thought. Plus, the low-budget school didn't seem to believe in air conditioning any more than the Titans believed in doorbells, and it had to be a good 80 degrees in that room, so it quite literally felt like a hell.

Sabbath watched as her breath fogged up the surface of her scuffed, fake-wood desk. Lazily, Sabbath traced her pencil's eraser through the moisture, drawing random patterns. With a little more concentration, she then forced the moisture to condense into one good-sized droplet of water. Focusing even harder, Sabbath made the water condense into a perfectly round ice ball. Keeping her attention on it to keep it from melting, Sabbath nudged it back and forth across the desk with her pencil. When it bumped the edge of her notebook, she'd tap it back towards her, and then to the notebook again. Back and forth, back and forth…After a few minutes, Sabbath decided to see if she could move it without the pencil. Putting the pencil in her lap for the moment, she concentrated on the ice ball. Slowly, it rolled away from her and bumped into her notebook. It then scooted along to the edge of the desk's surface and teetered on the edge before rolling back towards her face. Pleased, Sabbath continued to make the sphere dance along the surface of her desk, back and forth…back and forth..back and forth, gradually increasing its speed with every lap.

"Sabbath!" the teacher suddenly shouted, completely startling her.

"What?" she exclaimed (ignoring the fact that this one teacher refused to call her anything but her legal name), bolting upright in her seat and looking up to meet his angry gaze. Had he seen the ice ball? Surely he'd find it more than a little strange, especially in such a hot room. "I mean, yes, Mr. Parker?" she corrected herself, not wanting to come off as rude. Or guilty. Not that there was any evidence left, however. When the teacher had yelled at her, he'd broken her concentration. Without meaning to, Sabbath had accidentally made the ice ball evaporate in a cold puff of air.

"Sleep on your own time, Helligsworth. Do you think you can find the energy to come up and solve this problem?" he asked, motioning to the whiteboard.

Repressing the urge to tell him she had enough energy to melt the stupid whiteboard right off the wall, Sabbath simply stood up and headed to the front of the room. More than a little embarrassed at being scolded in class, but relieved he'd thought she was just asleep, Sabbath decided to just keep her mouth shut. Ignoring the snickers from her classmates, she took the marker Mr. Parker was holding out to her. After taking a moment to consider the equation, she did out some quick math on the board and circled her answer. Knowing it was right, Sabbath couldn't help the smugness that slipped into her smile as she capped the marker and handed it back to the now silent teacher.

Luckily, before he or anyone else could say anything, the bell rang, marking the end of the period. Heaving a sigh of relief, Sabbath walked back to her desk and quickly packed up her things. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Even music class was dull, though that was probably because the normal teacher was taking a sick day and was being filled in for by the oldest living substitute in the country.

However, things definitely got more interesting once she got home. The Millers had already arrived, evident by their van parked in the driveway. It was a little unusual for them to be home so early. Was one of them sick? A knot of tension began building in her stomach as she began to feel something wasn't right. Usually when parents came home early, someone was either, sick, dead, or in BIG trouble. In her case, it tended to be the latter.

Sabbath was cautious as she opened the front door. "Anyone home?" she called out.

"Sabbath, come in here for a moment, dear. Your father and I would like to talk to you," Mrs. Miller called out.

Uh-oh. This sounded like trouble. Setting her backpack and purse down by the coat rack and closing the door behind her, Sabbath followed the sound of Mrs. Miller's voice into the family room. Mr. Miller was sitting in his recliner, and Mrs. Miller was sitting on the couch with a newspaper in her lap.

"What's going on?" Sabbath asked.

In response, Mrs. Miller silently held up the newspaper for Sabbath to see. A bold headline read "NEW MYSTERY TITAN ADDED TO THE TEAM?", and there below it was a large, color photo depicting a purple snot monster bursting into flames. The creature's face was being blocked by a girl who had her back to the camera. A familiar, flying girl with flaming hands, long black hair, large black bat wings, and a sweatshirt tied around her waist.


	10. Chapter 9: Painful Memories

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 9

A/N: Sorry, I know it's been a while! I also realize there's been a major lack of Titans. Don't worry; the Titans will come into play a lot starting in Chapter 10! This is Chapter 9 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

WARNING: Things get kind of graphic in this one. I'm not going to change the official rating for chapters like this, I'll just say up here. I'm personally rating this chapter B for blood and M for thematic, disturbing content (but if you can stomach it, I suggest you do so; there's some good history on Dawn and Sabbath in this one).

* * *

><p>Sabbath was stunned speechless, and the loud ticking of the grandfather clock in the foyer adding a certain expectant air to the otherwise silent room. Sabbath felt it becoming harder to breath; the tension could've been cut with a knife. What to say? How could she have ended up as a headline in the local paper? True it was only the gossip column, but still. Sabbath thought back to when she'd been fighting Plasmus. At the time, all she could think about was the giant purple blob and the threat it posed to the Titans. She didn't remember any news crews hanging around. But, now that she thought about it, there had been a crowd of citizens off to the side who had decided to stay and watch the show. Citizens with cellphones…<p>

"Well?" Mrs. Miller asked.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" added Mr. Miller.

Neither foster parent seemed at all pleased, though Sabbath couldn't think of any reason they should really be mad at her. Yes, she'd made the paper in all her freakish, winged glory, but she was fighting a monster; saving the city! It's not like she'd been slitting the tires of handicapped kids' wheelchairs or something. And really, no one would recognize her in that picture except people who already knew her. It was taken from a weird, lower angle behind her (luckily, despite the fact that she was wearing a skirt in the photo, nothing embarrassing was revealed); she had mostly her back facing the photographer. All that could clearly be seen in the picture were her wings, hair, skirt, and flaming left arm (most of her lower half wasn't even in the frame). Unfortunately, it was still all the Millers needed to recognize her.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," she began remorsefully, figuring the Millers were embarrassed to see that side of her published in such a public medium. She knew she never should've exposed her wings like that in broad daylight. This would teach her. "I just didn't think you'd understand, or even want to know. I know my abilities make you uncomfortable, so I didn't think you'd want to hear about a bunch of people just like me…"

"Sabbath, we're not upset about that; who you make friends with is your business," Mr. Miller corrected. "Besides, the photograph doesn't show your face, so no one knows it's you. What we're angry about is that you lied to us about your whereabouts. You weren't shopping or hanging out with friends from school, were you?"

"Have you even been going to school?" Mrs. Miller asked accusingly.

"Of course I've been going to school!" Sabbath snapped. Why were they accusing her of such crazy things? They were making way too big a deal of this whole thing! "And as a matter of fact I was shopping; where do you think that outfit came from?" she asked, gesturing angrily at the newspaper. "I just wasn't with friends from school. Hell, I haven't made any friends in school since I was in elementary school! You know how I spend most of my time? Alone! And now that I've met some people who actually consider me a human being and want to be around me, I get yelled at for it? OK, so I lied about who I was with, what does it matter? Except for that one night, I've always made curfew, haven't I? What do you care where I go or what I do as long as I'm home on time?" Now that her secret was out, a lot of built up emotions that she'd been hiding came spilling out all at once, making her seem angrier than she meant to, but there was nothing she could do to stop it.

"We're not yelling at you, Sabbath," Mr. Miller said, keeping his voice perfectly level. "Like I said, what you do and who you make friends with is basically your business. We're just upset that you've been lying to us."

"We also don't appreciate you using such a harsh tone with us," Mrs. Miller added, more emotional than her husband. "Actually, before you decided to start yelling like some kind of barbarian, we had only wanted to talk to you. We wanted to apologize for not discussing this with you sooner."

"You did?" Sabbath asked, taken aback by their lack of anger. She was starting to feel a bit foolish, but they HAD been the ones making wild accusations.

Mr. Miller sighed. "Sabbath, do you know why we moved to this city?"

"It was for your job, right?"

"No, dear," Mrs. Miller answered, a quiet sympathy entering her voice and replacing the previous anger. "It was because we'd heard about this group of local teenagers. They call themselves the 'Teen Warriors'-"

"Titans," Sabbath corrected. "Teen Titans."

"Yes, that was it, the Teen Titans.," Mrs. Miller continued. "Well anyhow, a friend of your father's had suggested we come here. He works in the same company branch as your father. When we told him about you, he mentioned the Titans. He claimed they were like real life superheroes. He thought this city would be a great environment for you. When we found out your father could transfer here and still keep his job, we decided to move. I ended up having to switch companies, but a lawyer like me can always find work in big cities like this."

"We meant to tell you about them," Mr. Miller added, "but you always seemed either too tired or too busy. We're sorry you had to stumble upon them by yourself, you must've been rather shocked."

"Yeah, that's one word for it…" Sabbath trailed off, now lost in thought. So they'd moved here just for her? Just so she'd finally make some friends? They must really care about her after all, in their own way (their own, no-hugging-required way). She didn't know what to say.

"We encourage you to get to know them," said Mrs. Miller, smiling. "We want you to be happy here and to make some real friends. We can't imagine how tough the last few years have been for you, but we wanted your life with us to be a fresh, new start."

"And on that note, here," Mr. Miller said, producing a wrapped package that had been previously hidden from view beside his chair. "We got this for you."

Numbly, Sabbath reached out and took it. It was a small box wrapped in gaudy giftwrap. Was it jewelry? Slowly, she tore off the shiny paper and revealed the plain white box underneath. Dropping the paper to the floor, she lifted the cover off the box. Inside was a sleek, new cellphone. It looked to be plain black, but when Sabbath slid it open, a hot pink, full QWERTY keyboard was revealed. There was a small loop on the top left corner of the phone to string cellphone charms or key chains from. Dangling there on a thin, black cord was a chunky, silver cross charm.

"I saw it in the window of a local electronics store yesterday," Mrs. Miller said. "It reminded me of that outfit you came home in the other day, and since you needed a new cellphone..."

"It's all set up and ready to go," added Mr. Miller. "We even charged it up."

"But the charger wouldn't fit in the box," Mrs. Miller continued. "We'll give it to you later."

Not wanting to speak, fearing that if she did she'd break out into tears, Sabbath just leaned down and wrapped Mrs. Miller in a hug, and then Mr. Miller. Surprisingly, they each gently returned the embrace. "Thank you…" she whispered to each of them.

"You're welcome, dear," her foster mother replied, her eyes shiny with repressed tears, much as Sabbath suspected her own were.

"We hope you like it," Mr. Miller added, smiling.

"I love it!" Sabbath assured them, once she trusted herself not to cry.

"Good," Mr. Miller said.

"And don't be afraid to talk to us, no matter what," Mrs. Miller continued. "You can tell us anything. But if for some reason you can't get ahold of us, God is always listening," she said, gesturing to the cross charm.

Sabbath knew what she meant, and it was the thought that counted (plus, the cellphone WAS pretty awesome). Having run out of words, she simply smiled and nodded in agreement (under any other circumstances, she would've replied in her usual indifferent, sarcastic manner). After a moment she added, "I'm just going to go bring my bag upstairs and start on my homework. Let me know when dinner's ready?"

"Ah, not so fast…" Mr. Miller called out as Sabbath turned to leave. "There's still one more matter at hand."

Sabbath flinched and slowly turned back around to face her foster parents.

"We're happy you've met a few kindred spirits in this city, but that doesn't change the fact that you've been lying to us," Mrs. Miller sad, the stern tone returning. "But before we lay down an appropriate punishment, let's clear up a few things."

"O…k," Sabbath said cautiously. "Like what?"

"Well let's start with how you lost your other phone," Mr. Miller said.

Ah. That. "Well," Sabbath began. "It's kind of a long story."

"We have all the time in the world," Mrs. Miller said, crossing her arms. Then, nodding to the space on the couch next to her, she said, "Sit."

Sabbath knew there'd be no easy way of escaping once they had her on that couch; but she also knew her foster mother's order wasn't up for negotiation. Hanging her head in defeat, Sabbath's shoulders slumped as she made her way to the couch and took a seat next to Mrs. Miller.

The atmosphere in the room got more and more uncomfortable as Sabbath told the Millers what had happened that day. She told them about Cinderblock and how she'd gotten hurt fighting it, explaining that a crash landing on a mini-van had crushed both the cellphone and her left wing. Mrs. Miller flinched, and Sabbath thought she caught a glimpse of sympathy in her foster mother's eyes. She told them about how she'd woken up in Titans' Tower, and how they'd fixed her up. Mr. Miller shifted uncomfortably in his chair. She even told them about how one of the Titans had walked her home, although she left out exactly who it was. They didn't need to know that part.

Once her story was finished, Mr. Miller asked his next question. "Alright. So what about that Friday night you told us you were going to the movies? Were you in the Tower unsupervised with those boys that night as well?"

His insinuation was obvious, and Sabbath was offended he would even think such a thing about her, or about the Titans. But, seeing as she was already in the hot seat, she figured it was best to suppress her rage and just answer the questions. A fight would only prolong her suffering on that couch. "Well, they're not all boys, you know," she corrected, keeping her voice as calm as possible despite all the jagged comebacks spinning through her head. "But no, that Friday night I was by myself. I just took a quick flight over the city. I wanted to see if my wing was fully healed, but I also wanted to get a better idea of where the Tower was. I flew down to the coast, but I didn't get any closer than the lighthouse."

"Lighthouse?"

"Yes, lighthouse," she clarified, wondering what part of the word was so hard for him to understand. "There's a lighthouse in the harbor about a block or two away from the Tower. I didn't see the Titans."

"What about Saturday?" Mrs. Miller asked. "Is that when this picture was taken?" she said, holding up the newspaper article in question once again.

"Yes," Sabbath answered wearily. She was getting sick of this whole interrogation. She quickly explained the series of events that had occurred that day as well; everything from the thrift store in town, to her visit to the Titans' Tower (though leaving out the details of what exactly she did there), to the pizza parlor in town and the appearance of Plasmus.

By now, the Millers looked like they'd really rather be anywhere but in that room, discussing the things they were, but yet seemed to feel it was their duty as good foster parents to listen attentively. After all, hadn't they just told Sabbath to feel free to tell them anything?

"And that's about it," Sabbath summed up, only leaving out the detail about the communicator. Again, she didn't feel that was something they really needed to know. The Millers thought she was just friends with the Titans, not working with them, and that was how she wanted to leave it. "I haven't seen the Titans since Saturday. You know the rest."

"There now," Mrs. Miller said with forced cheer. "Doesn't it feel good to have everything out in the open?" She was the first one to speak following Sabbath's story. Mr. Miller, meanwhile, seemed to have turned into a silent, uncomfortable stone statue.

"Yeah, I guess so," Sabbath replied, not meaning it but knowing it was what the Millers wanted to hear. Honestly, she felt just the opposite. She didn't enjoy telling them about her adventures with the Titans. It was almost as awkward for her as it was for her foster parents. A heavy silence followed, no one seeming to know what to say in response, nor how to really close the discussion.

The grandfather clock suddenly chimed 5 o'clock, surprising everyone in the otherwise silent room. Sabbath was shocked, how could it be so late? Had she really been sitting here spilling her guts to the Millers for almost two hours? She hadn't even heard it ring for 4 o'clock.

Suddenly, it was as if a spell had been broken. The Millers snapped out of their uncomfortable haze. Mr. Miller said, "We're glad you told us the truth Sabbath, but that doesn't change the fact that you lied to us to begin with. So to discourage you from doing so in the future, you're grounded for the next week."

"What?" Sabbath cried. She hadn't seen that one coming. "But that's not fair! The only reason I lied was because-"

"Sabbath, don't talk back to your father," Mrs. Miller said sternly. "And lying is a terribly bad habit that can lead to nothing but trouble."

Sabbath ground her teeth together and squeezed the cellphone's box in her hands. She cried out in frustration before stomping angrily towards the stairs to her room. "I'M NEVER TALKING TO YOU AGAIN!" she yelled over her shoulder. It was an empty, childish threat, but it was all that would come out. As she ascended the staircase, stopping only to snatch her backpack and purse from by the door, the smoke alarm overhead went off, screeching and wailing at a blood-curdling pitch. Sabbath ignored it, as well as the scolding shouts from the Millers. As she turned on the landing to head up the second flight of stairs, she caught a glimpse of Mr. Miller furiously attempting to reset the alarm from the control box by the door, while Mrs. Miller tried to console a panicked Robin (the kitten of course) who was frantically trying to worm his way under the couch.

Once in her room, Sabbath slammed the door firmly behind herself and dropped her bags on the floor before angrily throwing herself on her bed. She heard the alarm cut off downstairs, immediately followed by the muffled sound of the phone ringing somewhere in the house, and knew it was the alarm company calling to make sure everything was alright. Sabbath couldn't help but smile as she imagined the Millers trying to explain that it was a false alarm. She knew they'd never reveal the real reason behind the alarm's going off and would undoubtedly make up some half-plausible story. The irony was that they'd just lectured her about lying.

Sabbath sighed. Slowly removing her new cellphone from its box, she turned it over and over in her hands, examining it as her mind retraced everything that had just happened. Had her entire relationship with the Millers just changed? Had her opinions of them changed? Or would everything still be exactly as it was before? She had no way of knowing for sure; only time would tell.

It was all too much to think about, at least at the moment. She had more immediate problems, namely her recent grounding. She couldn't believe they'd grounded her, when she'd only lied in the first place because she thought that's what they'd have wanted! Sabbath had lived with a lot of families throughout her life, but she was starting to realize that all parents were equally impossible in their own ways. Grounding seemed to be a pretty universal punishment, and Sabbath had always hated it. Not that anyone ever liked being grounded, but still. She found it very…degrading. Grounding a child was like tying a dog up in the back yard; it never accomplished anything other than showing that parents had total control and weren't afraid to implement it.

'_Nazis…'_ Sabbath thought.

Rolling over on her side and turning the cellphone on, Sabbath squinted at its unexpectedly bright screen. After a brief introductory screen, the main screen came up, featuring the date, the time, and a continuously scrolling banner that read, "We love you!" The background image was a blurry group photo of the Millers holding a struggling Robin (again, the kitten) and standing in front of an out-of-focus portrait of Jesus. Sabbath recognized the portrait as the one that currently hung in the living room. The Millers flashed cheesy, forced smiles up at Sabbath from the phone's screen. Mrs. Miller's right arm loomed towards the top left corner of the screen; she'd clearly been the one taking the picture.

_ 'They're really not that bad,' _Sabbath thought to herself. It was true, though she hated to admit it. She'd had far worse families than this. They had all started out as perfectly normal foster parents, but it was as if once they had Sabbath and learned what she was, they couldn't handle it. She closed her eyes as memories dusted themselves off and drifted into her conscious mind.

It had all started with the Collins, back when she and Dawn were still adopted together. They seemed like nice, normal people who wanted nothing other than to start a family. They'd adopted the girls as babies, and things had actually been pretty pleasant for a long time. The Collins had eventually told the girls they were adopted, but the Collins were all they'd ever known, so it didn't affect their bond. The girls thought of the place as their home, until things had started to go downhill the night the twins fully came into their powers.

Sabbath flinched at the painful memory. The nightmares had been nothing new, but the burning in her arms certainly was. Not wanting to panic the Collins, she and Dawn had tried to act like it wasn't too bad. Regardless, they couldn't deny the fact that it wasn't going away, so they were taken to the hospital. Then, within the hour and right before the doctors' eyes, dark handprints had appeared, encircling the girls' forearms. They looked like a cross between bruises and burns, and were far bigger than the girls' own hands. No one could explain how they'd gotten there, but because the girls were under the Collins' watch when it had happened (the doctors assumed the actual injury had occurred hours earlier, saying it wasn't unusual for resulting marks to take time to appear), it didn't look good. Of course the Collins protested, saying they would never hurt their children. Dawn and Sabbath had also testified to those regards, but it made no difference. Someone had to be to blame.

Sabbath cried that whole night after they were released from the hospital. She vividly remembered sitting in her pajamas next to Dawn, bawling in the silent, too-bright waiting room. Dawn had gone unusually quiet after the Collins had been taken away in a police cruiser, but Sabbath suspected she felt just as much pain. Earlier that year, the Collins had given the twins each a solid silver (these people were quite rich) hair clip; Dawn's was a butterfly, and Sabbath's was a flower. The Collins had presented them with the clips on their 10th birthday, cheerfully saying "you can't have one without the other!" referring both to flowers and butterflies (Sabbath had been pretty sure it was bees that were important to flowers and not butterflies, but she figured a bee wouldn't have made as cute of a hair accessories), as well as the twins' inseparability. Sabbath didn't wear hers much, since she had yet to discover the magic of a hair straightener, so the clip ended up doing more harm than good, but Dawn literally slept with the thing. Now, as the two girls sat in the waiting room with a young nurse (who was supposed to be supervising them but was too busy doing crossword puzzles), Dawn had taken the clip out of her hair and was holding it tightly in her hands as she stared off quietly into space. Sabbath had noticed this at the time, but was too busy crying her eyes out to say anything. But she remembered wondering how the Hell Dawn could NOT cry. But she never got the chance to ask.

Eventually another police cruiser showed up to retrieve the girls. After briefly talking with the nurse that had been sitting with them, he instructed the twins to go with him. Dawn simply got up and followed the officer; the silent, haunted look never leaving her face. Sabbath stood up shakily and followed her sister, noticing before she walked out the door what Dawn had been staring at. There was a small water cooler propped up against the far wall. Sabbath hadn't noticed it on her way into the room, but she was willing to bet its water tank hadn't been frozen solid before they'd arrived. Puzzled, she opened her mouth to whisper a question to Dawn, but the unsympathetic officer shushed her before she could make a sound and quickly herded her and her sister into the back of the cruiser.

The twins were brought to the police station as well, though they never saw the Collins again. Sabbath attempted to convince the police that the Collins were innocent (Dawn didn't say a word), but they didn't seem to buy it. After a time, the police realized they wouldn't get a different answer from the twins, and the same officer that had brought them there escorted them back to the orphanage.

It took a few days, but eventually Dawn started talking again. She and Sabbath slowly settled into the routine of orphanage life, though they never fit in with their peers. They were only adopted once more as a pair after that. A young couple, the Stewarts, took them in. That only lasted a couple weeks. Dawn and Sabbath didn't take kindly to someone trying to replace the Collins, and it showed in their powers as well as their general behavior. The Stewarts became convinced their foster children were the spawn of Satanists and were dead afraid of them. They'd brandish crucifixes and would sometimes even lock the girls in the basement, until of course one of the twins either destroyed the door, or destroyed something (like a main water pipe or fuse box) in the basement that made it necessary for the Stewarts to go down there.

It soon became too much for the Stewarts to take, and they brought Dawn and Sabbath back to the orphanage, leaving them on the front steps. After that, the girls were adopted separately, which made them even more miserable. They started acting like true demons whenever they were adopted, desperate for the foster parents to return them to the orphanage where at least they would have each other.

Unfortunately, Sabbath was then adopted by a very tough family who refused to give her up. The Kleins were definitely not your average family. They weren't at all terrified of what Sabbath was; in fact, they loved it. They were literal Devil-Worshippers. They thought Sabbath was incredible, and that she was some kind of link between humans and Satan (although she kind of is). They were always demanding her help with their Dark Masses (they even called her "their Little Black Sabbath") or other various displays of power, sometimes exhausting her nearly to the point of passing out. Sometimes they even took blood from her while she slept. Sabbath tried refusing their demands, thinking they'd get fed up with her and return her to the orphanage like everyone else had, but they wouldn't. They'd punish her, lock her up, or stop feeding her, but they refused to give her back. Those people were really quite insane.

Dawn, however, had now been living in the orphanage without her sister for quite some time. Usually, neither sister had to wait too long for the other to come back. Dawn felt completely deserted, she had no friends, no parents, not even the teachers at the orphanage seemed to like her; and now she didn't even have her sister. She rapidly fell into a deep depression that now amount of medication could ease. She eventually grew tired of waiting for Sabbath to come back, and decided being alone would be better than being surrounded by people who ignored her very existence. One night, she ran away from the orphanage, leaving no explanation. She simply disappeared. They tried having the police look for her, but the police figured that since she would be 18 in about a year or two, there was no point; they knew she'd run away.

Eventually, Sabbath managed to use the neighbor's phone (the Kleins kept all phones well hidden) long enough to call the police. The Kleins were arrested, and Sabbath was finally returned to the orphanage. Only this time, Dawn wasn't there waiting for her. Worried, Sabbath desperately sought answers from the orphanage staff and residents, but all anyone could tell her was that she'd run away; vanished without a trace. Sabbath was crushed. She couldn't believe her sister would give up on her like that, or that she'd even think of leaving without her. Her sixteenth birthday was the first Sabbath ever had to spend without her sister. She didn't feel like celebrating one bit. Sabbath swore to never celebrate another birthday without her sister; it just didn't feel right.

From that day on, Sabbath felt her only connection to her sister and dead mother was her powers. She dedicated every ounce of her spare time to practicing her abilities, guided by the Dark Man's instructions in her dreams. Between that and the amount of practice she'd gotten living with the Kleins, the Dark Man soon decided to reward her for her dedication to her gifts.

One night at the orphanage, Sabbath had awoken from another nightmare. In it, the Dark man had seemed very happy with her; pleased with her hard work. He told her he was going to reward her, but didn't reveal any more than that before shed woken up, gasping and scared like usual. Unable to fall back asleep, Sabbath stumbled across the large room to the bathroom, being as quiet as possible so as not to wake any of the other girls sleeping in the room.

As she splashed water onto her face and neck, trying to wash off some of the sweat that had broken out across her skin, her back began to ache. At first she figured she'd just slept in a weird position, but the pain soon increased to unbearable degrees. Her back and shoulders burned, stung, and throbbed. Unable to support herself, Sabbath had sagged against the bathroom wall and slid down to the floor. The pain seemed to be coming in unrelenting waves, each more painful than the last. It seemed to be more focused on her shoulder blades as time went on. Finally she felt something sharp break the skin from the inside. Shocked and in immense pain, Sabbath cried out, rousing the other girls from their sleep.

Several girls burst into the bathroom and found Sabbath, convulsing and crying, curled up on the bathroom floor. She couldn't find the breath to tell them what was wrong, as she was fading back and forth between consciousness, but the blood that was beginning to dot the back of her nightshirt was enough to make them understand. The younger girls hung back in fear, but one of the older ones came and knelt beside Sabbath, carefully lifting the bloody shirt off Sabbath's back. There she saw two black, sharp nubs slowly forcing their way through Sabbath's skin. The girl dropped the hem of Sabbath's shirt in alarm and disgust. One of the teachers had then been woken up by one of the girls and brought to help. By the time the teacher arrived, however, the two appendages had worked their way fully out, though stayed tucked tightly against Sabbath's back. The jagged slits they'd left in her back were healing at an inhumanly fast pace right before the teacher's eyes, not even leaving scars.

The pain was quickly subsiding, and Sabbath's consciousness was returning. As she opened her eyes she saw the ring of girls surrounding her, each with a different look of horror or disgust plastered on their face. "D…Dawn..?" Sabbath weakly whispered, thinking for a moment she'd spotted her sister in the crowd.

"Dawn's not here, dear," the teacher, who was still beside her, answered. Her voice barely concealed her extreme revulsion.

"What happened…?" Sabbath asked, still lying on the cold, tile floor as she was too weak to sit up.

"We're hoping you could tell us," a girl behind her said, sounding like she'd just seen a ghost.

"My back…" Sabbath trailed off, remembering the intense pain in her shoulder blades.

"Yes, dear," the teacher said. "Let's take you to the infirmary. Can you stand?"

Despite the question, neither the teacher nor any of the other girls offered her a helping hand. Regardless, Sabbath managed to stand. Leaning on the wall for support, she followed the teacher to the infirmary, a crowd of disturbed girls following behind her, gawking and whispering. The nurse, who had to be woken up, couldn't make any more sense out of Sabbath's sudden mutation than anyone else. All she could do was wipe the remaining blood off Sabbath's back, although she couldn't find any injuries or sources of blood, so she saw no reason to bandage her.

It seemed the nurse had a stronger stomach than the rest of the inhabitants and employees of the orphanage. As Sabbath sat on a stool, the back of her shirt pushed up to her neck, the nurse slowly and calmly wiped an alcohol-soaked cloth along Sabbath's back and the new appendages sprouting out from under her shoulder blades. As she did so, they began to unfold, sticky with remaining blood and plasma. Sabbath felt them move, but still couldn't see what they were. The nurse gasped.

"Oh _my_!" the nurse whispered.

"What?" Sabbath asked, becoming more and more nervous; why wouldn't anyone tell her what was going on? She felt the nurse take hold of one of the appendages and fully unfold it. Sabbath flinched.

"Does that hurt?" the nurse asked faintly.

"…No, not really," she replied. It didn't hurt; it was just a weird feeling. Whatever had just grown out of her back, it was sensitive. Plus, the alcohol the nurse was wiping it with made it cold. Sabbath shivered. "What is it?" she asked, afraid of the answer, but having to know.

"I'm not sure…" the nurse trailed off. After wiping down both appendages and unfolding them, she handed Sabbath a mirror. Walking her over to a larger, full-length mirror, the nurse then instructed Sabbath to stand with her back to the full mirror and use the small one to see what was reflected there. Sabbath did as the nurse told her, and as the nurse held up the back of her shirt, Sabbath saw exactly what had left everyone so disgusted and speechless.

There, below the blood-caked ends of her curly, sleep-mussed ponytail was a pair of large, black, pointy wings. As Sabbath stared, dumbfounded, at her reflection, she moved first one wing, and then the other. The joints were stiff, like a muscle that hadn't been used in a long time (or ever, in this case), yet she found she could move them easily, just like an arm or a leg. Stretched out to their full width, Sabbath estimated the wingspan to be about as wide as she was tall.

She stared, fascinated, as she flexed her new wings. Was this what the Dark Man had meant when He'd told her he'd reward her? If so, this was a terrifying gift. Or was it? True, it was very unusual, and even her own initial reaction (after pain) had been shock. And yet, she couldn't bring herself to dislike them. In fact, Sabbath found she rather liked how they looked; their spiky, black appearance contrasting with her smooth, pale skin, yet at the same time they seemed to match her dark hair and eyes perfectly. Not to mention the fact that wings probably meant she could fly. She grinned.

Suddenly remembering she wasn't alone, Sabbath turned her gaze back to the nurse, who was now totally stunned silent. The nurse had apparently dropped the hem of Sabbath's shirt when her wings had moved, but their extended joints had prevented it from sliding down her back. Realizing this, Sabbath looked over her shoulder to watch as she retracted her wings, which were still spread out, and tucked them tightly against her back. Then, reaching up and tugging her shirt back into place, Sabbath once again looked back at the nurse. Hiding her wings had seemed to snap the poor woman out of whatever horror-induced coma she'd been in. Still, neither Sabbath nor the nurse knew what more to say to the other.

After a moment, the nurse cleared her throat and said, "Well, dear, if you don't need anything else, it's very late and you should try to go back to sleep."

Sabbath was a little surprised. Was that all she had to say? _'Then again,'_ Sabbath thought to herself, _'What else could she say?'_ Muttering some kind of farewell to the Nurse, Sabbath turned and left the infirmary.

In the months that followed, things changed for Sabbath at the orphanage. Suddenly, people went from ignoring her to outright avoiding her. Now, instead of bumping into her in the halls or cutting her in the lunch line, people who saw her coming turned tail and quickly went the other way. People she talked to no longer ignored her, they didn't dare. Instead they listened with a strained, dear-lord-will-I-live-through-this-day expression. They already knew Sabbath was rather…different and that she got adopted a lot, but it seemed that seeing (or hearing about) her grow giant bat wings overnight had solidified what they all must have subconsciously felt: that she was evil, terrifying, and life-threatening.

While Sabbath never exactly liked the other people in the orphanage, she never found any reasons to hate them exactly. She'd simply never gotten to know them, since she'd spent all of her time with her sister. To her, everyone else had just been background noise. But now that Dawn had abandoned her and everyone else feared her, she began to realize just how alone she really was. She didn't like it one bit.

She began to act out in pure frustration at her unjust treatment, blaming Dawn for most of it. Between that, her new wings (which she'd taken to hiding under a bulky, man's pullover she'd dug out of the lost-and-found. The Kleins had been the ones to buy her a real hoodie. They'd been crazy, yes, but they'd never minded accommodating her uniqueness), and her ever-evolving powers, it became harder and harder for families to adopt her.

In the 6 months since she turned 16, she'd been adopted 4 times; 3, not including the Millers. She'd been with them so briefly, Sabbath didn't even bother remembering their names. Her behavior when she'd initially adopted separately from Dawn was nothing compared to this. The first family had returned her after a week and a half of rebellion and unexplainable, mini-natural disasters. The second family had been much more cheerful than most others Sabbath had seen. They'd kept her for about 2 months, having returned her when she threatened to reenact the prom scene from Carrie if they made her go to the Sophomore Winter Dance. The third family had been particularly large, and very rich. They had 5 kids (each seemingly from a different country), including a relatively new baby, when they adopted Sabbath. She never could figure out exactly why they did so, but she just figured the wife was one of those women who loved motherhood and wanted to take care of a house load of kids until she keeled over. They'd returned her about 3 months later when she'd unintentionally set the house on fire.

As time had passed, Sabbath had grown less and less frustrated with her situation. She'd come to realize that she'd be 18 soon enough, and then she'd be free to look for Dawn. She realized that acting like a monster unfortunately wouldn't make the time pass any faster.

Then, the Millers had adopted her. At the time, Sabbath knew her record had been full of various red flags and black marks too numerous to count, as well as the heavy, vague title of "Special Needs". For some reason, the Millers had felt bad for her. When they'd visited Sabbath in the orphanage, she hadn't seemed monstrous (they had yet to noticed the wings), just unhappy. They figured the "Special Needs" just meant autistic, and none of the orphanage staff seemed willing to clarify beyond saying, "She's a special girl," with a tight smile. So the Millers decided to adopt her, in hopes of turning her from a troubled youth into a normal, happy adult. They believed all she needed was Jesus' love and a happy, stable home.

Thinking back, Sabbath realized that her ominous record had probably been what inspired the Millers to be so overbearing. The cellphone, the early curfew, Principal's List, the rides to school…it all made sense, now that she thought about it.

Sabbath sighed. Understanding where the Millers were coming from didn't make it any easier to be mad at them for grounding her. Flipping open the cellphone again, Sabbath couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as the cheesy picture and scrolling, "We love you!" glowed up at her from the screen. Even if they were a little tough on her at times, Sabbath had to admit she'd definitely had to deal with worse.

In the back of her mind, she wished Dawn could be there with her. Sabbath's heart panged at the thought, she missed her twin terribly. If Dawn were living with her and the Millers here in this city, Sabbath didn't have any doubt that things would be perfect. _'Well, almost perfect,'_ she thought to herself. Thing hadn't been perfect since the Collins. Another twinge of pain echoed through her heart.

Rolling out of bed, Sabbath placed her new cellphone on the nightstand next to her alarm clock and strode across her room. The sun was setting now, flooding her box-filled room with a deep, pinkish-orange glow. Kneeling in front of a box labeled "Old & FRAGILE Crap" (Sabbath found that the only fun thing about moving was putting silly labels on the boxes), Sabbath ripped the duct tape off the top and pulled out handfuls of crumpled newspaper. Reaching in, she then carefully pulled out a wooden jewelry box. The Collins had given it to her, of course, along with everything that was in it. Well, given it to her and Dawn to share. However, when Dawn had run away, it seemed all she took was her Walkman, a few pairs of clothes, a flashlight, and her silver hair clip. Not having the heart to throw away any of Dawn's stuff, Sabbath had been left to tote around her sisters belongings for over six months now.

Layered underneath the jewelry box for extra padding were more of Dawn's clothes, but the jewelry box was all Sabbath was looking for. Walking away from Dawn's clothes for the moment the same way Sabbath felt Dawn had walked away from her, she carried the jewelry box back to her bed. Sitting cross-legged on her comforter, Sabbath placed the wooden box in her lap and opened it's now creaky lid. Inside were a couple necklaces, bracelets, and clip-on earrings. Most of the stuff had been just for playing dress-up. The rest was children's jewelry that Sabbath had long since outgrown but couldn't bear to part with. There was also jewelry the girls had made; simple string necklaces and bracelets. The top compartment as well as most of the box's drawers were filled with things like that.

Carefully, Sabbath pulled the whole tray out of the top of the box, revealing the hidden compartment between the top compartment and the first drawer. Sabbath remembered how fascinated she and her sister had been when they'd discovered it. There, nestled in the left-hand corner of the compartment was Sabbath's silver flower hair clip. Dawn used to keep her clip in there, too, whenever she wasn't wearing it (which honestly wasn't very often)

Setting the box aside next to the removed top tray, she carefully lifted out the clip. Red light from the setting sun glinted off its surface as she did so, making it look almost molten. Being solid silver, it was heavy in her hand, yet it was still smaller than she remembered it being when she'd gotten it. It was a simple, rounded flower shape with six petals and a small, raised circle in the middle for the flower's center. When she'd received it, it had been about the size of the palm of her hand, but now Sabbath realized it wasn't so big at all. In reality it was about half the size of her new cellphone's screen.

Sabbath felt overwhelmed with sadness as she again thought of her sister deserting her. Even though they were nowhere near identical, Sabbath had always felt that she and Dawn had shared a close bond. Maybe it was because they were all they'd ever really had, or maybe it was the unique powers they'd both been born with, Sabbath wasn't sure. All she really knew was that thing's weren't right without her around.

"You can't have one without the other," Sabbath whispered, her voice breaking and tears falling from her eyes.

Just then, Mr. Miller called up the stairs, "Sabbath, dinner's ready!" returning her thoughts to the present and shattering her cloud of melancholy nostalgia.

Quickly wiping her eyes and clearing her throat, Sabbath called back, "Be down in a minute!" Putting her hair clip back in its place, she suddenly realized she didn't want to bury the jewelry box in old clothes and crumpled newspapers anymore. Reassembling the jewelry box, Sabbath slid it onto her nightstand behind her alarm clock. Then, before she could forget, she grabbed her new cellphone off the nightstand and stuffed it in her purse, which was still on the floor with her backpack where she'd left it, before heading down to dinner.

Even though things weren't as perfect as they'd once been, things could be a lot worse. And, unbeknownst to Sabbath, things would indeed change for the worse. Soon.


	11. Chapter 10: Calm Before The Storm

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 10

A/N: This is Chapter 10 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

PS. I can't believe it! I've officially made it to the ten-chapter mark! Thank you to all the readers who continue to put up with my slow updates, technical difficulties, and general errors; you all rock! Now, these next few chapters may read as sort of…off. That's because I'll probably be rushing them, at least a little bit. I just need to get through a few more details before I can FINALLY start getting to the good stuff! Keep reading! : )

* * *

><p>The next several days went by in a blur. It was now well into May and final exams were fast approaching. Sabbath couldn't believe she was almost halfway through High School already! It was a scary thought, though not scarier than having to go through days and days of redundant review with her classmates. As she had begun to suspect when she first transferred to that school, the other students there weren't the brightest (and that was putting it nicely).<p>

It was another boring Wednesday, and her fourth period math class was now on day three of reviewing previous chapters in preparation for the final exam. Unfortunately, it seemed her classmates were no better off than they were a week ago, no one seeming capable of grasping even the most basic of concepts. Yet the teacher, Mr. Parker, would repeat himself, time after time, in a futile attempt to make them understand. Sabbath, however, still had yet to find herself at all challenged by the class. By this point it was just downright painful.

Trying to block out the monotonous teacher, Sabbath rested her head in her hand and traced patterns on her desk with her fingers. She hadn't even bothered to take out her notebook, having left her backpack at her feet along with her purse.

*BZZZT…BZZZZT* *KSSSHHHHH…KSSH!* "_Jane, you there?" _*KSSH!*

Sabbath jumped. Her purse had suddenly started buzzing and crackling with static. And had it just said her name?

"Ms. Hellingsworth!" Mr. Parker called out angrily, not giving Sabbath any more time to think about the strange noises. Apparently, she wasn't the only person who'd heard them. "That had better not be a cellphone I hear! You know quite well that cellphones are to be turned off during school hours!"

The static noises came again, and again her purse whispered her name. Suddenly, Sabbath knew it wasn't her cellphone. It was the Titan communicator Beast Boy had given her; and it was going off in class! Beast Boy had told her she'd only be called if the Titans needed her help, and helping them totally topped geometry any day. But she needed to think of something to say, fast!

"Um, right, sorry Mr. Parker," she replied, a half-formed lie springing to her lips. "And normally, my phone would be off at all times. But, um, my aunt is really sick. She was admitted to the hospital last night with chest pains, and my mom told me to keep my phone on incase my aunt's condition changed. She'd only call if it was an emergency! Please let me take this call Mr. Parker, sir. It's very important." Lies, lies, lies. Sabbath was mildly ashamed of herself, but saving the city from God-knows-what seemed a lot more important than sitting in a class review she didn't need.

Mr. Parker gave her an angry look, but nonetheless replied, "Well, alright. Family emergencies take precedence, I suppose. But you'll be missing vital review information! I expect nothing less than an 'A' from you on this final!"

"Of course, sir," she said, almost making herself gag with how fake she was being. "And I promise this won't take too long. Thank you!" she said, grabbing her purse and dashing out of the room before Mr. Parker could change his mind.

"At least take the hall pass, Hellingsworth!" he yelled after her, any hint of sympathy now replaced with frustration.

Sabbath reached back into the classroom and grabbed the pass off it's hook by the light switch before turning and running back out. Jogging quickly and quietly down the hallway, she found her way to the nearest exit and stepped outside, not wanting her conversation to echo throughout the halls and give her away. As soon as she was outside, Sabbath let the door slam shut behind her and sat down on the school's back steps, dropping the hall pass next to her.

Reaching into her still buzzing and hissing purse, Sabbath pulled out the yellow device and pushed the flashing button on the side. It instantly popped open and revealed a frazzled-looking Beast Boy on it's round screen. "Jane!" he cried. "Finally! What took you so long?" he asked.

"I was in the middle of math class!" she exclaimed. "You're lucky I got out alive to take this call. Now, what's going on?"

"Control Freak's taken over Cook's Electronics department store! Usually he's not that hard to take down, but this time's different! He's got-"

"Wait! Wait. What?" Sabbath interrupted, having no clue what the green boy was talking about. "Slow down. What's a 'Control Freak'?"

Best Boy ducked, making the screen go blurry for a moment. Was that a...battery that had just lunged itself at him? "There's no time to explain," he replied, jumping back in frame. "Just get down here as fast as you can!" then he paused, seeming to remember something. "Um, you know where Cook's is, right?"

"Yeah, I think so," Sabbath replied, remembering the electronics store in town where she'd bought her mini iHome.

"Great! Get here as fast as you can, ok? Beast Boy out!" he said, giving a really cheesy salute before the signal cut off, returning to plain static.

Sabbath sighed as she snapped the communicator shut and stuffed it back in her purse. The Titans had the worst timing! Did they expect her to just cut school? Could she actually get away with it? Who knew how long it would take her to fight off "Control Freak." Thinking back to her shopping trip, Sabbath also realized it would probably take her half an hour to get to Cook's on foot from school, and there was no way she was flying there. She was just beginning to wonder what the city bus' schedule was in this part of town when she spotted the school's bike rack next to the stairs she was sitting on. She didn't own a bicycle, but she knew how to ride one. Luckily, it seemed that not all of the bikes in the rack were locked up. She could get to Cook's a lot quicker on a bike than if she just took off running, not to mention running would use up energy she'd probably need if this guy was putting up as much of a fight as Beast Boy said.

Sabbath stood up, grabbed the hall pass and stuffed it in her purse. Slinging her purse over her shoulder, she then marched down the steps towards the bicycle rack. She decided to borrow one of the bikes, promising herself she'd return it before it was missed. She thought of it almost like how a cop can take a citizen's car in an emergency. Grabbing the first unlocked bike she saw, Sabbath jumped on it and took off at high speed towards town.

Just as she'd hoped, using the bicycle got her to Cook's in ten minutes instead of thirty. Screeching to a halt in front of the electronics store, Sabbath leaned the bike against the nearest light post before running inside. It seemed vacant; there were no people inside at all, at least not that Sabbath could see from the front, although the store itself looked like it had been hit by a tornado. Cook's was a lot bigger than she remembered it being, but then again she'd been in a hurry and hadn't exactly been taking in all the details. Now she saw that there was a staircase in the back of the store, leading up to "Home Entertainment" and down to "Clearance/Discounts". The store had high ceilings like a warehouse, so Sabbath hadn't even thought of the place having more than one floor.

Jogging towards the stairs, Sabbath wondered where the Titans and "Control Freak" had gone. A loud crash and thud from upstairs answered her question. Dropping her purse as she ran up the stairs, Sabbath emerged on the landing to an incredible sight.

Amidst all the debris and damaged home entertainment equipment, Robin, Starfire, and a dinosaur-Beast Boy were fighting various floating electronic devices that seemed to be under the control of a ridiculously obese man with crazy orange hair and a spooky-looking remote. And…was he wearing a wetsuit? Well, that was an odd sight (and painful, the wetsuit was way too small!). Cyborg and Raven, however, were nowhere to be seen.

"Jane!" Beast Boy called out, momentarily resuming his human form and looking over his shoulder to call out to her. Unfortunately, in doing so he let his guard down and the retractable extension cord he'd been fighting took the opening, striking the green shape shifter across the chest and shocking him with electricity. Beast Boy cried out in pain, clutching his chest as he fell to his knees.

"Beast Boy!" Sabbath yelled, rushing to his side. However, she didn't have time to worry about him, as his calling her name had caused the villain to notice her presence.

"No way!" the fat guy gasped in surprise, turning his gaze and weird remote towards her. He aimed the remote directly at her, or so it seemed, and clicked a button. For a moment, Sabbath was confused because nothing happened. Then, several cords and wires grabbed her from behind, winding themselves around her body like bandages around a mummy, leaving just her head exposed. The wires picked her up off the ground and brought her right up to Control Freak, where they again placed her feet on the ground, holding her down.

"Jane! Watch out!" Robin yelled as he and Starfire deserted their opponents and ran towards Sabbath.

"Ah! Not so fast, Titans!" the fat villain yelled to them. After quickly zapping them with his remote, the ugly man then returned his focus to Sabbath. Robin and Starfire, however, appeared paralyzed by a bluish-white electricity that fully engulfed their bodies. Starfire was frozen in mid-air, while Robin was frozen mid-run. Their electrical opponents now turned to watch Sabbath's demise.

"What did you do to my friends?" Sabbath demanded, yelling in the villain's round, zit-covered face. The wires and cords wrapped around her body didn't allow her to move much, but from what she could see out of the corner of her eyes, Starfire and Robin were completely immobilized, and Beast Boy still hadn't gotten up (though Sabbath could see he was still breathing).

"Ah, the elusive, mysterious 'New Titan.' Jane, was it? Aren't you supposed to have wings?" he asked, ignoring her question. Sabbath didn't respond. "This is so cool!" he continued, a sudden gleefulness in his tone. "I must be the first super villain you've ever fought!"

Sabbath was now really confused. Was this guy a villain or a fan-boy? "Um, who are you? And how do you know about me?" she couldn't help asking.

"Who am I?" he raged, all gleefulness gone. Sabbath sensed a monologue coming on. "I am Control Freak! Master of reality! I control the horizontal! I control the vertical! I am your worst nightmare come to life!"

"Uh-huh…" Sabbath replied, thinking his name really was fitting. "But how do you know who I am?" she asked again.

"Not only did I read that article on you in the paper, but you're all over the Titan fan forums!" And YouTube! Only no one knows your full name or anything, you're like a huge mystery! It's so cool to be the first super villain to fight you!"

Sabbath flinched, hating to hear about how popular she'd become, even if it was only on the internet. Good thing that press photo didn't show her face, although she didn't know if any of her supposed YouTube videos did. She hoped they were all too blurry or too far away to get decent shots. Cellphones didn't have good cameras, right? And if this guy really had done so much research, how could he miss the fact that she'd fried Plasmus?

But none of that mattered right now. She had more pressing matters to deal with, namely the power cords slowly constricting tighter and tighter around her body. With her hands pressed up against her sides like that, she didn't dare start a fire; she'd end up hurting herself (or at least her clothes) more than anything else. Looking up at the ceiling, she saw the sprinkler system overhead and considered bursting a main pipe.

"Don't even think about it!" control Freak said, seeming to have read her mind. "Sure, water would shut down normal technology, but since that last fight where Robin blew the sprinkler system and defeated me, I've modified my remote to make everything under my control waterproof! Things not under my control, however, would just be destroyed."

"So, you planned for water, did you?" she asked. "That explains the wetsuit…"

"Yep!" he replied, sounding cocky, like he thought he was invincible now. "That, and it looks really cool."

Sabbath didn't even bother correcting him on that last bit, figuring it wouldn't do any good. But hell, if water couldn't shut down his machines and she couldn't start a fire, then what? There was no natural material here except the concrete in the floors, but she didn't want to bring the whole building down. Since Control Freak was so close to her, any sort of cyclone or vacuum she created around him would end up hurting her, too. She could break open the sprinklers overhead and destroy all the other machines on the floor so Control Freak couldn't use them, but Sabbath estimated that would be hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of damage. Plus, there'd still be the matter of the machines already under his control, and hadn't he hinted at the remote being waterproof, too? Meanwhile, as ideas continued to spin frantically through Sabbath's mind, the cords were wrapping ever tighter around her body.

"Guess I only have one option, then," she replied. A puzzled look crawled onto Control Freak's face, destroying the cocky expression that had been there seconds before. _'Just hope I can do it without killing him,'_ she thought to herself. She assumed the Titans had a strict no-killing rule, being good guys and all. But control would be harder to keep since she couldn't use her hands.

Narrowing her eyes in concentration, Sabbath focused on the humidity in the air; how every breath a person released in the room contained gaseous water, and how despite the large fans on the ceiling, the room was really warm and muggy. She thought of the fact that most of the human body itself was composed of water, and therefore should be easy to control.

Trying to connect with her powers over water as best she could, Sabbath then visualized all the water in the air condensing, forming a large sphere of liquid around Control Freak's head. She couldn't use her hands to direct the condensation of the water, so she was depending entirely on the power of her mind, knowing deep down that water was her weak spot. But if she could just do it fast, before he noticed, hopefully she wouldn't have to move it too much.

Fog was beginning to form around the villain's head, though he took no notice. He was too busy spewing some nonsense and directing the wires and cords to slowly squeeze the life out of her. Sabbath flinched at their bite, but kept her focus on the task at hand.

Suddenly, a wobbly orb of water formed around Control Freak's head. Panicked, he dropped his remote and reached up with both hands to swat at the water. Sweat broke out across Sabbath's forehead, but she didn't stop. Control Freak tried running away from the orb after discovering his hands were of no use, but it followed him, keeping firmly planted on his shoulders. Sabbath's head started to hurt, and the cords wrapped ever tighter, but she kept it up. Soon, Control Freak fell to his knees, the lack of oxygen finally starting to get to him.

_'Just a little more!'_ Sabbath thought, forcing herself to not let go just yet. Control Freak's breath bubbled up out of the sphere, and the expression of panic on his face escalated to sheer horror mixed with desperation. Then, finally, his eyes slid closed and he collapsed to the ground. When his face hit the floor, Sabbath evaporated the water orb with a gasp, only then realizing she'd been holding her breath. Even though it had only taken her about a minute and a half to take down Control Freak, it had taken more effort than she'd expected.

However, despite the fact that the villain was now unconscious, his machines were still fully functional and, seeing the defeat of their master, were now turning their electrical fury towards Sabbath. Control Freak's remote was on the ground at her feet where he'd dropped it. The wires and cords wrapping around her body didn't show any signs of letting go, but they weren't so tight yet that she couldn't move at all. She couldn't move her legs independently, but she could still jump. Bending her kneed, Sabbath jumped up in the air and landed directly on Control Freak's remote. It took a couple tries, but she was finally able to break it into pieces. As soon as the remote was destroyed, all the wires around her went limp and the angry, floating machines heading her way fell lifeless to the floor. Robin and Starfire could move again, and Sabbath saw Beast Boy slowly walking towards them (she hadn't even seen him get up).

Sabbath squirmed out of the coil of wires and cords and kicked them aside. At first she'd thought the Titans were coming to make sure she was alright, but surprisingly enough they were heading towards Control Freak's limp body.

Starfire hung back, a worried look on her face as she silently gazed down at the villain, her hands covering her mouth. Robin knelt next to him and checked for his pulse.

"Dude, what'd you do?" Beast Boy asked Sabbath, and for once there was no sense of humor or general cheer in his voice. Sabbath didn't reply. She didn't think she'd killed him, but would it really have been a huge loss to anyone if she had?

"He's alive," Robin said, standing and turning to face Sabbath, "just unconscious." He sounded disapproving.

"Then why are you all so upset?" Sabbath demanded, looking around at the disturbed expressions they each wore. Why should Robin be mad? Had he wanted the man dead or something?

"Jane," he replied, seeming alarmed that she didn't understand. "That was really dangerous, you almost killed him!"

"I knew what I was doing!" she cried defensively. "If I wanted him dead, he'd be dead by now. I just wanted to knock him out so I could get his remote. He had me tied up, and I didn't see any of you coming to the rescue. Plus he'd already taken out Cyborg and Raven. What else could I have done? I was out of options!" True, she hadn't been %100 positive he wouldn't die, but she had been pretty sure he'd just pass out.

None of the Titans seemed to have an answer to that. All Robin would say was, "Control Freak short-circuited Cyborg's systems when we were in the basement. He couldn't reset himself on his own, so Raven had to take him back to the Tower."

Sabbath didn't really know what to say to that, though she somehow felt she'd just lost the argument. Still, the more childish side of her didn't want to let the Boy Wonder get the last word, so she said, "Whatever. Look, I was in class when you guys called me. If I don't get back before the end of the day, whoever I borrowed that bicycle out front from is going to be really mad."

With that, Sabbath turned to storm out of the room. However, she then realized that she didn't want to ruin the relationship she'd managed to garner with the Titans, so she stopped when she reached the stairs. Not having the guts to look them in the eye, she didn't turn around and instead kept her gaze glued to the floor. With a sigh, she quietly added over her shoulder, "Look, I'm sorry about Control Freak. I panicked and lost my better judgment. I didn't know what else to do. But I would NEVER let anyone get really hurt; neither a villain, a citizen, nor a Titan. Like you said, he's just unconscious, which was exactly what I had planned. He'll be perfectly fine.

And if you ever want my help again –though at this point I doubt you will-, it doesn't matter what time it is; I'll respond day or night. I'd rather be saving this city than sitting in some classroom doing math or sitting at home doing homework or chores any day. And to be honest, I don't even remember the last time I made real friends, or even real acquaintances. I don't want one error of judgment on my part to screw things up."

After a minute of unbearable silence, Sabbath heard footsteps heading towards her. She couldn't tell who's they were, but she didn't have the guts to turn around and face whoever it was. However, she recognized the gloved hand that suddenly rested on her shoulder as Beast Boy's.

"It's alright," he told her. "At first, it looked like you'd actually killed him, which would've been way too extreme, especially for such a low-level villain as Control Freak. But I know you'd never kill anyone. Plus, like you said, there were no other options, and you didn't really kill him, or even hurt him that much." Then he continued in a whisper, "Good thing Raven's not here, though. She'd tear you apart. She's big on the whole "responsibility" thing; even more than Robin. Just remember: most bad guys aren't monsters, they're people. Bad people, yeah, but people just the same."

Sabbath smiled, thankful that Beast Boy understood her. She was used to no one understanding her, so this was rare. Tears of happiness threatened as she turned to face the green boy and replied, "Thanks, Beast Boy. And you're right. Next time I'll try to go easier on the bad guys."

He returned her smile and, keeping his hand on her shoulder, walked her back to where Robin and Starfire still stood with control Freak's unconscious body.

"So…now what?" Sabbath asked, the room suddenly too quiet for her to take.

"Now, we turn him over to the police, and he goes back to prison," Robin replied, kneeling down to slap a pair of high-tech cuffs on the villain. Where had those come from? Sabbath shook her head, deciding to let it go.

Before another brief-yet-awkward silence could flood the room, Sabbath continued, "So, do you guys need me for that? Or…" she trailed off, not wanting to just walk out, but not knowing how to be excused. If she didn't get back to school soon, the school day would be over and someone would be bike-less. The last thing she needed was to be labeled a thief.

"Nah, you're all set," beast Boy said, dropping his hand from her shoulder. "All that's left now is the boring part. You have to go back to school now, right?"

"Unfortunately," she replied, not sounding at all enthusiastic about the thought of returning to school. Every class was doing pointless review now, and she really didn't feel like going through any more of that today. To be honest, she felt pretty tired. Not totally wiped out, but a nap would be nice. That water trick had taken a lot more out of her than it should have; she was really out of shape where her water powers were concerned. "If I don't bring that bike back before it's missed, I'll be in big trouble," she continued, hating the fact that it was the truth.

"Thanks for your help today; we'll be in touch," Robin called to her, ever professional, as she turned to leave.

"Agreed, much gratitude!" Starfire added. "And it was glorious to see you again! Perhaps we will meet again soon?"

"Sure thing!" Sabbath called back, a smile now on her face as she waved good-bye to the Titans before descending the stairs. Grabbing her purse from the landing where she'd dropped it, she then ran down the stairs two at a time. One of the few remaining clocks in the store informed her that there was less than an hour left of the school day. _'Crap!' _she thought to herself. Bursting through the front doors, she hopped on the borrowed bicycle and pedaled as fast as she could back towards the high school.

She screeched to a sand-spraying stop by the back steps, ditched the bike at the bike rack where she'd found it, and ran into the school. She nearly took out a few shocked students as soon as she burst through the doors. The hallway was totally packed. For a moment, Sabbath stood there, too stunned and confused to even offer apologies to the people she'd crashed into. They simply gave her dirty looks, flung a few insults, and kept walking. Why were there so many students in the hall? School couldn't be out already, could it?

After a moment of confusion, Sabbath's brain started functioning again as she realized that of course the hall would be crowded. Glancing at a nearby clock hung above the lockers, Sabbath saw that it was time for 8th period. Somehow, between almost being strangled by animated electronics, almost killing some villain, and probably breaking a land speed record on her way back, she'd forgotten her daily schedule. All she'd been thinking was that she had to get the bike back before anyone noticed. People continued to shoot her strange looks as the crowed thinned. She realized then how disheveled she must look.

Just then, the warning bell sounded, breaking Sabbath's train of thought. Right. She had about a minute to get to her last class of the day. Music. All she had to do was head down to the music room, get through the last 45 minutes of the day, and pretend she'd been there all day and that nothing was out of the ordinary.

As she entered the music room, Sabbath started to fall back into her normal routine. She automatically headed towards the instrument storage room to retrieve her guitar. She'd made a habit of dropping it off their in the mornings so she didn't have to carry it around all day. And, sure enough, it stood there in its case in the corner, propped against the wall waiting for her exactly where she'd left it. She smiled as she unzipped the case and wrapped her hand around the smooth, wooden instrument. She still wasn't that good at playing it, but somehow even just holding it seemed to relax her. Playing always cleared her mind, making her forget everything else but the notes on the page and the music she was making, even if it wasn't perfect.

The music teacher was having the class review for the final, just like all the other teachers, but review in music class mainly meant practicing older songs and concepts. Sabbath was still a little behind the rest of the class, having only been with them for about a month and a half. But still, when she wasn't able to play songs with them, she enjoyed just watching, because she knew what they were all feeling. She imagined they felt what she did, only stronger since they could all play a lot better. She knew they must feel the bliss that music brought, the satisfaction of making written notes come alive for all to hear, and the unique euphoria of playing in harmony with one another. When the whole class played a song together, each instrument contributed its own sound, yet somehow each sound meshed perfectly with those of other instruments. It was true harmony. Even if she couldn't play all the songs with them, Sabbath still liked to close her eyes and tune in to that feeling. She knew how great music surely made them feel, just as it did her, and knowing they all shared that common feeling at one time or another made her feel that, for once, she fit in perfectly with everyone around her.

As the class simultaneously turned to the page of their workbook that the teacher had instructed, Sabbath smiled as she saw a familiar song. The teacher had told them all to flip to one of the first songs in the book, Bach's 'Minuet in G'. It was one of the first song's she'd learned, so by now she could play her part with the rest of the class. As Sabbath started plucking out the first notes in sync with the rest of the class, she couldn't help the smile that slipped onto her face. As she played through the familiar song, Sabbath listened to all the other instruments around her, each contributing their own instrument's pieces to the whole of the song. It sounded wonderful. Sabbath enjoyed the blissful bond she felt with all the other students, all the while trying her very best to ignore the feeling in her heart telling her to enjoy it while it lasted, for it would be over and dead before she knew it.


	12. Chapter 11: Dark Dreams

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 11

A/N: This is Chapter 11 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

PS. I now have a real internet connection in my house, so you can expect more frequent updates! As of today I'm already working on chapter 14! :D Also, there should be no more uploading errors (ie. a chapter becoming one big block of words), although it still saddens me that this site won't accept different fonts. You'll all just have to pretend the Dark Man's words are in Microsoft's "Chiller" font.

* * *

><p><p>

Later that day, Sabbath half expected the Millers to be at home waiting for her once again, this time to punish her for skipping class. She was supposed to tell them everything that was going on now and not feel the need to keep secrets, or so the Millers had claimed. They told her they'd always listen to what she had to say, but Sabbath suspected there was a big difference between listening and understanding.

However, when she returned, the house was empty and quiet, just like always. This was a good sign; either the Millers didn't care she'd cut a few classes, or they didn't know. She suspected the latter. She figured her school must be too low-budget to even bother telling parents when kids skipped, especially so late in the school year. That evening the Millers came home and they had dinner as a family like normal; nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Sabbath kept waiting for the bomb to drop, but it never did.

As weeks went on, the Titans called on Sabbath several more times. Luckily, all their calls had been either during school hours or shortly thereafter, so Sabbath never had to lie to the Millers or make excuses to get out of the house. Keeping a secret wasn't technically lying, right? During the last week of school, the Titans had even called her during her Health final (that had been fun. The school had a strict rule about not leaving classrooms during finals. Sabbath had had to feign physical illness, but even then it seemed the Millers were never called).

Finally, after the last day of school came and went, the Millers decided to go out to dinner as a family in celebration of Sabbath's being half way through high school. She was a little suspicious when they made her wear a simple (yet still uncomfortable) evening dress, but when they arrived at the restaurant, she no longer worried about the dress being too much for a simple dinner. The Milers took her to a restaurant on the coast on the rich end of town, a place called "The Crystal Orchid". She was surprised at how elegant it was. Sabbath had never been taken to such a fancy, formal restaurant before; it seemed to almost have a royal air about it. But it was an enjoyable evening for all. The Millers eventually broached the subject of where Sabbath thought she might like to attend college, and for the first time, she could actually see herself spending a good, long time with this family. She was so happy, she almost cried. She felt that, for the first time in a very long time, she had a stable, normal home once again.

After a lavish dinner and a dessert that was almost too pretty to eat, Sabbath returned home with the Millers. By then, it was nearly 10:30 at night (the restaurant was nearly an hour away), and the whole family was exhausted. Sabbath bid the Millers good-night with a smile on her face, and for once there was nary a hint of sarcasm, negativity, or anger in her voice when she said it.

After a quick shower, Sabbath went to bed with thoughts of the past few months buzzing through her mind. She couldn't exactly say how she felt about the past school year as a whole, but these last few months had been pretty amazing. Not only did she meet and sort of join a team of actual superheroes, but she'd actually ended up getting good grades in school here (thanks to an all-nighter or two), and the music teacher had even let her keep the guitar! Who knew she'd end up loving music of all things? And of course, she'd been given a wonderful new family.

As she turned out the lights, she started to think of how bitter she tended to act towards the Millers. She knew they'd done nothing to deserve such treatment, but at times she found she couldn't help but feel the way she did. But after the evening they'd just shared, Sabbath discovered she really didn't hate the Millers. Sure, they'd been overly judgmental at first, and tended to be way too strict, but Sabbath knew in her heart that, since the Collins, this was the best family she'd ever had, and she intended to hold on to it for as long as she could.

Sabbath shivered with fear. She couldn't see, but she could feel an intense presence all around her. There was no distinct sense of anger to it this time, though she felt that, hidden just under the surface, whatever was here could obliterate her with half a thought.

The Dark Man was here again. Like always, Sabbath turned her head, desperately trying to see Him, but like always, she remained blind regardless of whether her eyes were open or closed. Somehow, not being able to see Him made Him that much more frightening. Her stomach clenched in fear, the quiet tension palpable in the smoke-like air around her.

She knew why he was here. Besides a quick hour or so a week when the Titans called her, Sabbath hadn't used her powers at all. Since she'd missed over half the second semester before she'd transferred into her latest high school, she'd had to study ten times as much as her classmates for Final Exams. She felt the need to explain, but before she could open her mouth, the Dark Man already knew her thoughts.

"You are doing well with the Titans, but you could be doing so much more. It has been too long since you practiced your abilities thoroughly and really pushed to your limits. Before a goal can be accomplished, barriers must be annihilated," the Dark Man said, his words echoing loudly in Sabbath's head.

She knew he was talking about her weaknesses. When she fought for the Titans, she tended to use powers and tricks that she had already mastered and was comfortable with (that water trick with Control Freak had been sloppy, but she'd actually tried it several times before in various practice sessions). She hadn't tried anything really new or challenging lately because doing so tended to be dangerous. When she did practice her powers, she worked in baby steps, increasing her effort little by little. Trying to push herself too far ahead all at once often lead to a loss of control. She'd seen it happen to her sister too many times. Sabbath had only experienced it for herself once or twice, and it was awful. Trying to expand her abilities was like trying to push open a huge, heavy door to let her powers out. If she pushed too hard, there was a chance the door would just burst open, unleashing ten times the amount of power she could handle. Everything would come rushing out in a torrent, and pulling that door shut on all that power was nearly impossible.

Before Sabbath could voice her reply, that burning feeling crept into her arms once again. But it wasn't just the familiar stinging; this time there also came a hot pressure along the handprints on her forearms. It felt like massive, inhumanly hot hands were clenched tightly around her arms. She couldn't see what was there, yet it seemed to have total control over her now. Sabbath felt her hands rise up, felt the familiar rush of power, and got a vision of herself with glowing, blue hands summoning dozens of perfect, needle-sharp icicles and launching them at incomprehensible speeds towards an invisible target. Sabbath couldn't see where they landed, but she knew they'd draw blood. Lots of it.

When the icicles disappeared, the vision changed. Now she saw dozens of thorny vines rise up from the ground towards her yellow-green glowing hands. She could tell the vines' leaves were razor sharp even without touching them, and she noticed their thorns were dripping with venom. The invisible hands around her arms made her thrust her hands out in front of her, causing the vines to lash out like vicious snakes and embrace their invisible target in a death grip.

Then the vines withered and died at her feet, and again the vision changed. Now there were white-hot sparks forming at her fingertips. The sparks became orange flames, and as Sabbath watched, her now orange-glowing hands moved like those of a lifeless puppet, causing the flames to melt together and form one massive ball of fire. Then the ball condensed, which was something Sabbath hadn't even known fire could do. Yet the Dark Man offered no explanation, He merely continued to show her what to do. As the fireball shrunk, it slowly turned a blindingly brilliant white, just like a star. In fact, Sabbath had a feeling that's exactly what the Dark Man wanted her to learn to make; miniature stars. Then, her right hand threw the star, which had now shrunk to a fraction of its original size. What was once the size of a beach ball was now no bigger than a baseball. Sabbath watched it fly away from her, and when it landed it exploded like a bomb, the shockwave nearly knocking her to the ground.

When she looked up again, she saw that the explosion had set everything as far as she could see on fire. She felt blind panic creep up her spine as the scalding flames closed in on her, soaring high above her head. Yet the Dark Man's grip never let go. Now she watched as both her arms were stretched out in front of her, her hands actually in the flames. She was about to scream in protest, beg Him to stop, but as she watched in horror, the fire absorbed into her skin. The flames were sucked back towards her like dust into a vacuum, and when they touched her skin, they seemed to just sink in, leaving a dim glow across her skin that quickly faded. Before she knew it, she'd absorbed all the fire the star-bomb had caused. Only when the last smoldering flame was gone did the Dark Man's grip release Sabbath's arms and the glow of power leave her hands.

Sabbath collapsed to her knees. Even if that had just been the Dark Man working through her to show her how to use her powers, it had still drained a good amount of her energy. She wrapped her arms around herself as she once again went blind and the Dark Man's voice returned.

"What I show you is possible, and you will learn to do so and much more. Increase your effort, and power will be your reward. But for now, it seems Fate is once again working its interfering magic on your world. Wake up, and fight as you have been taught."

Suddenly, before Sabbath even had a chance to ask what He meant, it felt as if the ground gave way under her, and she was falling faster than she would've thought possible. And she was choking. The air around her was hot and thick, burning her throat whenever she tried to take a breath to scream. Yet she continued to fall…desperate panic and fear coursing through her veins, the knowledge of her impending death all too prevalent in her mind…

Sabbath bolted upright in bed, coughing and gasping for air. Over the sounds of her own strangled breathing and the blood pounding in her ears, she could still hear the roar of the fire from her nightmare. Even with her eyes still screwed shut, she could tell it was morning. The sunlight was pouring through her windows, invading her vision with a red light through her eyelids.

Slowly, Sabbath began to realize she was having more difficulty than usual catching her breath, and even though she was awake now, the air still felt thick and tasted like smoke.

Beginning to panic, she opened her eyes and got the shock of her life. She now understood the bright light she'd been seeing, and the thick taste to the air. Now the Dark Mans words made sense. It hadn't been daylight illuminating her room. All around her, Sabbath's bedroom was engulfed in savage flames and heavy, black smoke. Only this was no dream or hallucinating vision, she was wide awake. This was real.


	13. Chapter 12: Fate

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 12

A/N: This is Chapter 12 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

* * *

><p><p>

Sabbath sat up in bed, staring around her room in shock. Massive flames were charring the floor and viciously racing up the walls, peeling off wallpaper and paint and giving off thick, black smoke that was quickly filling the room. The walls and ceiling creaked under the intense heat, and the fire roared as if it were alive. The fire seemed to have started on the other side of her room, from what she could tell. And through small gaps in the flames, Sabbath was able to see that a lot of her things were knocked over and totally blackened, and the window had been blown out. It looked almost as if an explosive had gone off!

_'Oh no…'_ Sabbath thought. _'Oh no no no this can't be happening! No not again, I didn't mean to! I couldn't have…!'_

Sabbath realized that it was no coincidence that she had just been dreaming about throwing fire bombs and now it looked like that's exactly what had gone off in her room. It had been many years since her powers had escaped her dreams while she slept. Once before, she'd set a fire in her sleep, and had nearly cost a newborn its life. Sabbath had sworn she'd never let it happen again. Plus, she'd always thought it was because she was still learning to control even her most basic powers. She'd definitely come a long way since then, right?

Suddenly, Sabbath's thoughts were wrenched away from the past to the present as her ceiling started to give way on the opposite end of the room.

_'Right, no time for panicking or self-pity,'_ she thought sternly. _'That will come later. But if I don't do something, this whole house could go up in smoke!'_ But what could she do? She remembered what the Dark Man had shown her, that she was supposedly capable of absorbing fire as well as creating it. But could she really absorb all the flames in this room? If she ended up losing control of herself, she wouldn't be the only one who'd never make it out alive…

Suddenly remembering the Millers and her kitten, Robin, Sabbath made her decision. She might not be able to stop the fire, but she had to try. If she couldn't stop it, maybe she could at least clear a path to her door, find her kitten and the Millers, and get everyone out safely.

Just then, a large beam fell out of her ceiling and crashed through the burned floor. Sabbath heard it land one story below. The sudden rush of new air caused the fire to race through the hole in the floor and quickly engulf the ceiling of the room below. She realized that time was running out. If she was going to do anything, she had to do it now.

Focusing on the flames covering the wall closest to her, Sabbath stood up, stretched out her hand, and summoned her powers. As the familiar orange glow encompassed her hand, she thought of what she'd seen in her dream. She pictured the flames rushing towards her hand and simply being converted from flames to pure energy and being harmlessly absorbed through her skin. She remembered how easy it had been, just like dust into a vacuum…

And just like that, it started to happen. The flames peeled themselves off the wall and reached out in long tendrils towards her outstretched hand. They wrapped around her fingers and up her wrist before sinking into her skin and disappearing. It was her first try at anything like this, but it had worked and she'd been able to control it. Sabbath was glad, but there was no time to celebrate. She'd only cleared a small section of the fire, and more was rushing in to fill the space.

She realized then that she didn't have a hope of stopping the fire; it seemed to be spreading almost as fast as she could clear it. In her dreams, she'd watched herself absorb massive amounts of fire at once. She'd also been able to do so quickly before the flames had a chance to spread. But she knew that was just a dream, and she didn't dare attempt something so complicated in real life without any practice. So, instead of risking a loss of control, Sabbath decided to go with Plan B.

Turning to face the wall across from her (or, where she figured it would be; it was impossible to see through the fire), Sabbath reached out with both hands and absorbed the flames that were in her path. The fire was still only on the second floor of the house, and Sabbath knew that the Millers and Robin slept on the first. There was still time (not much, maybe a minute and a half, but still time nonetheless), and there were a couple things Sabbath wouldn't leave that room without.

Clearing a small path across her room, Sabbath quickly found her guitar leaning against her clothes hamper. Unzipping the instrument's case, she blindly crammed a few items of clothing into it, not even knowing what she was taking, before heading back towards her bed. Absorbing the flames that had begun to close in on her bed and nightstand, Sabbath then grabbed her old jewelry box –the one containing her silver flower hair clip- from behind her alarm clock and stuck that in the guitar case as well.

Despite the hole in the floor and the broken window in her room, heavy black smoke was continuing to build up in the room. Sabbath's eye's stung and she could barely take two breaths without coughing. Plus, the floor was now beginning to creak loudly under every step she took. Sabbath knew the flames had spread to the second floor and had by now burned most of the ceiling down there, making the floor in her room dangerously unstable. She tensed her wings, preparing to fly if need be, though she soon realized that she couldn't spread them out much without burning them in the ever-nearer walls of fire. Plus, even if she could fly, where would she go? It was definitely time to find an escape route and get out of there while she still could.

Sabbath jerked the guitar case's zipper shut and slung its backpack-like straps over her shoulders. Quickly stepping into the first shoes she saw and snatching her purse off the floor by the foot of her bed, Sabbath did her best to clear a path to her door. She found it was getting to be too much. Every time she tried to absorb more flames, she felt as if her lungs were full yet she was trying to take in more air. She knew that if she kept it up, she'd end up losing control. Yet meanwhile, the flames were only growing thicker, and it was getting harder and harder to see through all the smoke. Not to mention how the temperature in the room seemed to climb another ten degrees every thirty seconds.

Sabbath gave up on trying to absorb the fire; it was a losing battle. Instead, she made firm sweeping motions with her still-glowing hands and forced the flames to back off. She pushed them back towards her bed and bathroom, the only places seemingly still untouched by the fire. It was like digging a tunnel, there were flames all around her; the floor, ceiling, walls, and all the furniture in her room was now aflame. But Sabbath was determined to make it out alive. Fire was her biggest strength; she'd mastered it years ago, and she'd be damned if it was going to get the best of her now.

Sabbath had to close her eyes against the hot, smoky air, and had to make her way to her door now by memory. Eventually, she found it. Clearing the last of the hot flames from her path, Sabbath instinctively grabbed for the doorknob and recoiled a second later with a screech of pain.

_'Stupid!'_ she mentally scolded herself, cradling her scalded hand. _'Of course the doorknob's going to be hot; it's metal and the freaking house is on fire!'_

Cursing silently to herself, Sabbath gave the door a good kick out of frustration, surprised that it actually gave way under the blow. She'd surprisingly managed to kick a good size hole in the burned door. Unfortunately, doing so let in more air, and the fire again raged to life and rushed towards the new source of oxygen. Sabbath cracked her eyes open in time to see flames racing towards her.

Sabbath had had enough. Fire was HER element to control, not the other way around! Fueled by her own emotions (plus the energy she'd gotten from absorbing the flames), her powers surged within her. Sabbath summoned all her strength for one final blow. When she felt her entire body fill with energy, she quickly diverted it all into her hands and arms. She then thrust her hands out towards the oncoming flames and stopped them in their tracks. Then, turning her attention to the rest of the fire, Sabbath peeled all the fire off the walls, floor, and ceiling and directed it towards the center of the room, curling it into one giant fireball. Finally, she released her power and flung the fireball towards the open window, taking out what was left of the broken window as well as most of the surrounding wall. Once it was outside, Sabbath summoned a funnel of air that surrounded the flame and created a vacuum, robbing it of its oxygen. In seconds, the massive fireball was destroyed and Sabbath let the twister dissipate in a gust of wind.

Normally, using so much power (especially controlling two elements at once) would have exhausted her beyond the point of passing out, but being only human (physically, anyway), Sabbath was now running on pure adrenaline. Hitching her guitar case and purse higher up onto her shoulders, she then turned towards her bedroom door and kicked it right above the latch. The part of the door that held the doorknob crumbled to the floor and the door swung wide open. Out in the hallway, Sabbath could plainly hear the fire alarm going off like crazy. There were smaller fires burning here and there, since some fire had leaked out either under her door or through the walls of her room, but nothing major.

Running through the hallway and leaping down the stairs three at a time, Sabbath quickly made her way to the Millers' bedroom. On her way, she noticed that the fire that had fallen through her floor had pretty much destroyed the second floor and had already escaped onto the first. For a moment Sabbath wondered if the Millers could possibly still be asleep. Surely they'd woken up and escaped by now. But she had to know for sure before she left the house.

Once she got to the double doors of their master bedroom, Sabbath found a disturbing sight. Tied around the handles of the doors was a thick rope, keeping the doors firmly shut and preventing anyone inside from escaping. The fire didn't seem to have spread to this part of the house yet, but Sabbath thought she could still hear it roaring several rooms away. Yet, over the roar of the fire, Sabbath heard the desperate, panicked cries of the Millers in their bedroom.

Too worried to think about how the Millers had been shut into their own room, Sabbath quickly summoned small, white-hot flames and quickly burned through the rope just as flames started creeping down the hall towards her. Yanking the remains of the rope off the handles, Sabbath pulled the doors open and called out to the Millers. Inside, the Millers were hunched down in the far corner of the room, trying to shelter themselves from the flames that were quickly spreading from the burning chunks of ceiling that were raining down.

Sabbath rushed into their bedroom and pushed the flames back as best she could, but apparently even adrenaline has its limits. The flames didn't back off the way she'd expected, but they didn't get any bigger, either. Looking over her shoulder, Sabbath ordered her foster parents to get out of the house, promising she'd be right behind them. Yet, they didn't move an inch. They yelled and sobbed and prayed, but other than that they seemed frozen in shock. Remembering the fire she'd seen creeping down the hallway, Sabbath knew the flames falling from their ceiling weren't the only ones to worry about. Giving up on fighting the fire, Sabbath instead ran to the Millers. Mr. Miller was trying to shield his wife from the flames, and behind him, Mrs. Miller was crouched down, crying, with a beyond-panicked kitten in her arms. Sabbath grabbed her foster parents by the arms and pulled with all her remaining strength. At first they wouldn't move, and Sabbath started to really panic. She pulled harder, and they finally seemed to get the idea. Mrs. Miller got to her feet and, along with her husband, allowed herself to be pulled out of the room.

By now, the entire hallway seemed to be on fire, and Sabbath had to squint against the hot, dry air and thick smoke. Wait…which way to the front door from here? Why couldn't she remember? Sabbath stopped in her tracks, her mind starting to shut down as her body finally gave in and went into shock. It was getting harder to see, and the sounds of the roaring fire and the Millers' panicked yells suddenly seemed far away. All she could do was stand stock still, her hands still clasping the Miller's.

In the back of her mind, a little voice was cursing at her for giving in, damning her body's timing, and commanding her to snap out of it. The voice was howling at her about how close she was to being out of the house, and asking her what kind of Titan she was if she couldn't even handle a house fire, never mind a house fire that she herself had started!

Suddenly, several tall figures burst through the flames to her left and grabbed hold of her and the Millers. They said things to her and the Millers that Sabbath couldn't quite hear or understand before talking to each other and into small devices clipped to their shoulders. Then, more of them showed up and quickly dragged/carried Sabbath and her foster parents out of the house.

Sabbath was sitting in the back of an ambulance, a blanket wrapped tightly around her shoulders and an untouched water bottle clutched in one hand. She had no idea what time it was, just that it was dark out, save for the flashing red and blue lights blinding her peripheral vision. An EMT named Henry was sitting next to her, brushing hair out of her eyes, taking her vital signs, and telling her everything was going to be fine, but that she needed to drink that water. The Millers were sitting in another ambulance, getting the same treatment. The kitten, Robin, was being tended to by a firefighter with a tiny oxygen mask.

The overall ruling was that no one was injured, and everyone got out safely. Sabbath had been diagnosed with shock, exhaustion, dehydration, and mild burns, and the Millers were diagnosed with just shock.

After the firefighters had pulled them from the fire, they'd immediately escorted them to two waiting ambulances. The Millers wouldn't let go of each other, so they went to the same ambulance while Sabbath got her own. Two waiting EMTs – a young, blond woman and a slightly older, brown-haired man – had rushed to her side and quickly brought her to their ambulance. She hadn't argued or fought, just gone along with it all. They had first insisted on checking her body for any injuries or burns. Once they pried her guitar case and purse off her shoulders, they discovered the wings that were hidden there. With the pressure of the guitar case lifted, her wings fell limply and hung down against her back. Sabbath didn't care who saw. That was the great thing about shock; it made the victim simply not give a damn. It beat worrying and freaking out, although the EMTs told her that would come later.

When her wings had been revealed, the blonde EMT behind her froze. Sabbath heard her hold her breath. The woman then reached out and picked one up, checking to verify what it was and if it was real or some kind of costume. When her fears were confirmed, the EMT made a gagging sound that Sabbath couldn't miss, even in her current state. Moments later, she'd mumbled something to her partner before scurrying off and climbing back into the ambulance's cab.

That was when her partner, "Henry", had taken over. Sabbath heard him gasp, but noticed he didn't run away. He cleared his throat and asked her if anything hurt. Of course, she didn't reply. With the skill of a doctor, he ran his fingers over her wings and arms, checking for broken bones. Since she didn't flinch or cry out at his touch, he took it to mean nothing was broken. He paused when he discovered the marks on her arms, a look of concern coming across his face. "What happened here?" he asked gently, lifting one of her arms to get a closer look. Still, Sabbath didn't reply. The EMT inspected the marks. At first they looked like burns, but they didn't look fresh, and Sabbath didn't seem to be in pain when he touched them. Nonetheless, he decided to wrap some thin gauze bandages around them, just to be on the safe side. Sabbath didn't complain. Henry then moved on to her hands, where he frowned at the few burns he found there. These she'd definitely gotten tonight. He sprayed them with something that stung, and Sabbath winced as he then wrapped them up in clean, white bandages. Her left hand was apparently worse off than her right, since it got more bandages.

After that, he'd wrapped her in a thick blanket and handed her a water bottle. After he took her vital signs and listened to her lungs, he told her the worst was over with, and all she needed was a little sleep. He told her she was pretty lucky. She didn't reply. She simply sat there. Eventually, he took the untouched water from her hand, unscrewed the cap, raised the bottle to her lips, and again asked her to please drink some. The water was pleasantly cool, and only when she was drinking it did Sabbath finally realize how thirsty she was. Without having to be told twice, she took the bottle from Henry and quickly drained half of it. The first few sips tasted like ash, and at first it stung her throat and made her cough, but after a few minutes and a few more swigs of water, she began to feel better.

"…Thank you," she said to the EMT, placing the bottle next to her on the floor of the ambulance.

"You're welcome," he smiled, seeming happy that she could in fact speak. "Think you can stand?"

She wasn't sure, but wanted to try anyway. Henry stood up first and held a hand out to her. She took it and slowly got to her feet. Once he saw she had her balance, he walked her a few steps away from the ambulance. Then, when he turned her to bring her to her foster parents, she saw the scene that the ambulance had been hiding.

Her house was on fire, and the places that weren't burning were burned to a crisp and caving in on themselves. There were several fire trucks lined up in the street, and firefighters were dousing the flaming house with water. Some were standing on the sidewalk using a long hose attached to a fire hydrant, while others were up in baskets branching from the trucks, spraying the house from above.

Neighbors were standing in various forms of dress on the sidewalk, watching the spectacle. There was a pile of debris on the street in front of the house from where Sabbath had blasted the fire out of her room. Police cruisers and officers were scattered about the place, too, and various officers interviewed neighbors Sabbath had never met, yet who seemed to have a lot to say.

Noticing where she was looking, Henry steered Sabbath away from the sight, saying he didn't want her to "reinforce her trauma". As he walked her towards the ambulance the Millers were in, it seemed an EMT had already allowed a police officer to speak with the couple. A round, bald officer with a notepad in his hand and his hat under his arm was taking vigorous notes on what the Millers had to say. They kept telling him that all they knew was that the fire alarm woke them up but they couldn't open their door. Then the ceiling started burning, etc., etc.

Just then, Henry and Sabbath walked up next to the ambulance. Sabbath wasn't sure what to expect from her foster parents. Tears, most likely. Possibly hugs, too. Anything but what she got.

When the Millers laid eyes on Sabbath, they stopped talking to the police officer and turned their attention on her. It was like they'd never seen her before, and now that they had, they didn't like what they saw.

"It was you!" Mr. Miller accused her, sounding as if he'd just remembered this fact.

"You brought the Devil's fire into our home!" Mrs. Miller added hysterically. "You tried to kill us!"

So much for the pleasant numbness of shock. Those words stabbed an icy cold blade through her heart. Sabbath was stunned speechless. Were these the same people she'd just shared a beautiful dinner and discussed college plans with a few hours ago? Even if she had started the fire (which while it was possible she had, she knew she definitely had not tied the Millers' bedroom door shut), weren't they supposed to refuse to believe she was responsible? Weren't they supposed to say they were just glad she was alright and the police would find and punish whoever had done this to their happy family?

One of the EMTs tending to the Millers attempted to calm them down, mentioning to the officer that they were possibly still in shock and delusional. But Sabbath knew better. While their panic and tears may have been from shock, she knew they'd made their decision and would stick by it any day of the week. They'd had it in their heads that she was evil from day one, and now they'd decided she had started the fire that destroyed their home and nearly killed them. While Sabbath was fairly convinced herself that she'd started the fire, she knew there was no malicious intent behind it. It had been an accident; something beyond her control. And for what it was worth, she had even tried to stop the fire. Plus, there was the whole matter of who tied the Millers' bedroom door shut. She didn't have the slightest clue as to who it could've been, nor could she understand why they'd only tried to kill the Millers and not her.

She briefly considered mentioning the rope to the police officer, who was now just standing back and watching the scene. Then, she realized it wouldn't do any good. Glancing around the ambulance and catching one more glimpse of the house, Sabbath knew that if there had been any evidence of the rope or anything else to back up her story, it was long gone now. The whole house was burned down to a blackened skeleton of what it had once been just hours earlier.

"She's the Devil's daughter!" Mrs. Miller continued, now turning back to face the police officer. The EMTs were still trying to get the couple to relax, but they were having none of it.

"We knew the day we adopted her! We saw the signs. Who could miss them? I mean just look at the girl!" Mr. Miller exclaimed, motioning towards Sabbath. "What girl has wings?"

"She's a thing of pure evil!" Mrs. Miller cried, now clutching the front of the police officer's jacket, desperately trying to convince him that what she said was true. "Please…" she sobbed, her voice cracking. "Just take her back…!"

The EMTs, surrounding officers (it seemed more had come to watch the spectacle), and even a few neighbors who'd been listening in all turned their gazes now on Sabbath, or, more specifically, on the black, pointy wings that were presently hanging limply from her shoulder blades through slits in the back of her nightshirt. Sabbath couldn't bring herself to meet their eyes; she just kept her gaze locked on the pavement. Even though she'd experienced this kind of thing before, the words always stung, especially coming from people she thought had loved her. People she thought she'd loved. Her eyes stung with tears.

Then the whispers started, breaking the awkward silence. Neighbors whispered amongst each other, glanced her way, then back at each other with disapproving looks. Police officers and firefighters muttered to each other and into their radios, and even the EMTs spoke to each other in hushed tones behind their hands. Sabbath couldn't take it. If there was one thing that hurt more than the cruel accusations and rejection, it was the judgmental looks and whispers that followed.

Wrenching herself away from the group of onlookers and not wanting to give them the chance to handcuff her in the back of the closest police cruiser, Sabbath ran back towards the ambulance she'd been sitting in, picked up her purse and bulging guitar case, and took off sprinting down the street away from it all. She heard the shouts of "Hey, stop her!" and "Miss, come back here!" coming from behind her, but if anyone actually bothered to chase after her, she lost them soon enough.

Her lungs burned from the sudden exertion after breathing in so much ash and smoke, but she kept running until she didn't recognize the houses around her and, more importantly, until she could no longer hear the shouts echoing behind her. Of course, she'd never be able to outrun the whispers in her head. The harsh words the Millers and thrown at her would remain with her for years to come, like all insults and rejection tend to do.

Sabbath turned yet another corner as she slowed to a walk. Her purse and guitar case felt like lead weights in her hands, her lungs were on fire, and her face was soaked and sticky with partially dried tears. But coming around this latest turn, her spirits lifted as she finally saw where she was heading. She might not have known it consciously, but something in her heart must've been guiding her all along, because there on the horizon was Titans' Tower.

Sabbath couldn't help the small smile of hope that crept onto her face. If anyone would understand, it would be the Titans. She quickened her pace, now that her destination was in sight. Maybe they'd let her stay, even if it was just for the night.

Finally, Sabbath made her way to the rocky shoreline. There wasn't much of a beach to speak of, but about a half mile inland, it was like the houses and buildings just…stopped. There the ground slowly gave way to rough gravel, then eventually to giant rocks and boulders, and then just a choppy ocean. Sabbath looked out across the water, estimating Titans' Tower was maybe a five minute flight from where she was standing. Then, taking in her current physical state, she admitted it would probably be more like ten or fifteen. She wondered for a moment if she'd even be able to make the flight at all. She couldn't have been sitting in that ambulance for more than half an hour; not nearly enough time to get her strength back. Then she'd taken off running across town. But, Sabbath figured that if she'd gotten this far, she'd get herself to the Tower's island too. She had to, she realized, since she really had nowhere else to go but back into the arms of the state.

So, with her mind made up, Sabbath clutched her purse and instrument case tightly in her bandaged hands, stretched out her wings, and whispered a small prayer to whoever might be listening that she please not fall into the ocean.

Her take-off was difficult, and her flight less than graceful, but eventually she managed to make an unsteady landing on the edge of the island. As she made her way around to the front door of the Tower, Sabbath started to take in her appearance for the first time that night. Even though it was still dark outside, she still got a general idea. Her hands were bandaged, her long nightshirt singed, her hair probably resembled some kind of underwater plant, and god only knew how splotchy and ash-stained her face was. Looking down, she realized the shoes she'd stepped into were actually her pink and black knee-high boots. Unfortunately, not only were they now dirty, but they were barely zipped (Sabbath was surprised they'd even stayed on). Overall, Sabbath assumed she looked like something out of a horror movie, and not in a good way. Just what the Titans wanted to be woken up by, she was sure.

_ 'Whatever,'_ she thought. _'I just lost my home, my family, and nearly my life in a gigantic fire; this is no time to be conceited!' _And with that thought, she walked up to the massive steel doors of the Tower. That's when she remembered the Titans didn't use doorbells. Everyone was probably sleeping, she realized. Would anyone even hear her if she knocked on the door? And she didn't expect to find them playing soccer on the roof at this time of night.

Sabbath collapsed to her knees, dropping her bags at her sides and causing the contents of the guitar case to clunk softly against the wooden instrument. She felt totally defeated. It was all starting to hit home now. Why couldn't the Titans use doorbells like normal people? Why did her house have to burn down at night when there was no one awake to run to? Why did things like this always happen to her? Why couldn't she control her own powers? Why couldn't she ever find a family that would keep her for more than a few months? Why did she have to be so screwed up?

With every silent question that ran through her mind, Sabbath pounded her fists on the metal doors in front of her, not in the hopes of someone hearing her (like the rest of her, her arms were so weak at this point she didn't expect anyone to hear her), but just out of pure frustration. Tears were openly pouring down her face. She knew this was neither the time nor the place to break down like this, but she didn't exactly have a choice. She slid her shaking fists down off the door and covered her face with her hands as she cried.

Then, over the sounds of her own cries (which by now had become embarrassing hiccups), Sabbath heard some kind of mechanical whirring above her head. It only lasted a second, but it still got her attention. Looking up, she spotted something reflective above the door. A camera? She wasn't sure. It didn't look like it had moved, or even could move, but the noise she'd heard had seemed to come from somewhere up there.

Sabbath gazed at the camera for a few minutes more. It did nothing, yet for some reason she continued to watch it, her brain temporarily zoning out. So needless to say she was scared out of her mind when the two large metal doors in front of her suddenly whooshed open, sliding into the walls and revealing a very confused Beast Boy.

"Jane…?" he asked, looking down at Sabbath, a mix of emotions on his face.

Her heart was pounding, since she hadn't expected him to just show up like that. Yet at the same time, she felt her eyes closing. She was starting to feel the effects of that "exhaustion" the EMT's had mentioned. The term seemed like the understatement of the century. Her adrenaline had finally run out, and her arms started to feel shaky as her legs went numb. Good thing she was already sitting down.

"S-sorry…" she managed to say through chattering teeth right before everything went black.


	14. Chapter 13: A Late Night Discovery

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 13

A/N: This is Chapter 13 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

PS. Thank you, Reader, for your input and advice. I shall try to put in a tad more description in future chapters. And to the rest of you, feel free to send comments and constructive criticism and such; it helps! :D

* * *

><p>It was about 3:30am, and the Tower hallways were completely dark. Yet the green shape shifter found himself, once again, walking blindly back to his room. Beast Boy silently cursed himself for letting Starfire trick him into eating Tamaranian food again. She'd said it was a salad, but apparently Tamaranian vegetables were alive. Like, with eyes and tentacles hidden under their leaves. Worse yet, they didn't agree with him at all.<p>

Beast Boy groaned with one arm over his stomach, his whispered mutterings of "never again…" sounding unusually loud in the silent hallway. His eyes stung with exhaustion. This was the fourth time he'd had to get up for a bathroom run. '_How could veggies betray me like this?' _he wondered. And he knew he wasn't alone; he'd passed Robin at least once on his way to the bathroom. He'd never seen the Boy Wonder look so...sick. Robin usually never let any kind of feelings show. Ever. It was like a law of physics.

As he continued down the hall, Beast Boy knew he was walking past Cyborg's room. It was too dark to read his name on the door, or to even really see the door at all for that matter, but he heard the faint, slightly monotonous snores coming from inside the room. _'At least someone's getting some sleep around here,'_ he thought bitterly. But something was different. Over the snoring, Beast Boy heard a faint yet insistent beeping. It sounded like some kind of alarm. Either that, or Cyborg was hiding some new video game.

Without even thinking, Beast Boy pressed a pointed ear up against the door to Cyborg's room. The beeping continued and the snoring stopped, followed by a gruff, confused expletive.

_ 'Since when does Cyborg swear?'_ Beast Boy idly wondered, leaning closer to the door. In doing so, he accidentally hit a button on the wall, which in turn caused the door to Cyborg's room to swish open and left the green eavesdropper to fall flat on his face.

"D'ow! Wh-oh, hey Cyborg! Heh, didn't see you standing there. Um…what brings you here so late?"

"It's my room, B, we've been over this. But right now, I don't even care why you were huggin' my door in the middle of the night," Cyborg said, not at all amused. He shot Beast Boy a brief yet angry look over his shoulder before returning his attention to the computer screen that had folded out of a nearby wall.

"What's going on?" Beast Boy asked timidly, his curiosity getting the better of him, yet he couldn't help but remember the old saying; 'curiosity killed the Beast Boy.' Rarely had he ever seen Cyborg angry.

Cyborg sighed. "I don't even know, man, and that's the worst part. The security sensors picked up something banging on the front door, but the camera won't pan down far enough to let me see what it is. All I can see is a dark shape in the bottom of the screen, and this thing…won't…-" he said, trailing off as he repeatedly stabbed the arrow keys on the keyboard in a futile attempt to move the camera. "And you know I gotta coach Little League in the morning; I gotta be up in…" he paused in his abuse of the keyboard to glance down at his arm, "three hours? Aw man! I don't have time to be chasin' raccoons or whatever this thing is off our doorstep! Man, if I don't get some sleep, we'd be better off sending Raven to coach those kids' game in the morning."

Beast Boy laughed at the thought, though he couldn't deny it was true; Cyborg got beyond cranky if he didn't get enough sleep. But then again, who didn't? Then, an idea occurred to him. "Hey, why don't I just go check it out? I'm not getting much sleep anyway after that weird salad Starfire made, and a raccoon would probably like me better than you; I speak it's language!" he said cheerfully before suddenly morphing into a green raccoon.

"Aight, thanks, man," Cyborg replied, a hint of a grateful smile now on his face. Then, in a more serious tone, he added, "Be careful."

The raccoon chittered and gave Cyborg a quick salute (which, Cyborg had to admit, was a pretty funny thing to see a raccoon do) before scampering out of the room and down the hall. As the green raccoon disappeared into the shadows of the hallway, Cyborg yawned, silenced the alarm, shut his bedroom door, and went back to bed.

Beast Boy, still in raccoon form (he found he could see better in the dark that way), ran swiftly down the hall until he reached the elevator. Once there, he resumed his human form and pushed the "DOWN" button. In seconds, the elevator arrived and Beast Boy walked in and pressed the button for the ground floor. As the elevator slowly descended, Beast Boy started to wonder what exactly it was that was at the door. Now that he thought about it, a raccoon couldn't have made the swim to the Tower. And it couldn't be a person; who'd come for a visit in the middle of the night? And if it was a bad guy, why would they have knocked?

By the time the elevator reached the first floor of the Tower, Beast Boy still hadn't come up with any plausible ideas (though a lot of implausible ideas were still swimming around in his head). As he approached the front doors, he noticed he couldn't hear any banging. For a moment, he thought that whatever it was must've gone away. He was about to turn back and head upstairs when he heard a strange noise coming from the other side of the doors. Coughing? No, it sounded more like hiccupping. But that didn't make any more sense than coughing.

Thoroughly confused, Beast Boy flipped the lights on with a nearby switch and pushed a button that caused the doors to slide open, revealing a most unexpected sight.

There, kneeling on the ground, was Jane. She seemed surprised to see him, like she hadn't actually expected anyone to answer the door. But other than that, she looked like she'd been through hell and back. She was hiccupping, like she'd cried so much that was all that was left. Her face was smudged with dirt and streaked clean where tears had obviously run down her face. Her eyes were red, her lips were pale, and she looked exhausted. Her wings hung limply to the sides, trailing on the ground, and strewn beside her were a purse and…a guitar case?

What was going on? Beast Boy's head was spinning with a million emotions and twice as many questions. But questions could wait. Above all else, he was worried about her. He found he had the most unusual urge to reach out to her; to hold her, comfort her. He couldn't explain why, but it was embarrassing nonetheless.

Amidst the jumble of thoughts in his head, the only solid sentence he was able to form out loud was her name. "Jane?" he asked, incredulous, worried, and still awfully confused.

"S-sorry…" she said as her eyes started to close. Her voice sounded shaky, like her teeth were chattering.

"Huh? Why? What's-Hey, careful!" he cried out, for before he could even get out a decent sentence, Jane's eyes had drifted shut and she started leaning heavily to one side. Before she could hit the ground, Beast Boy lunged forward, falling to his knees but still managing to catch her (even if it was clumsy and awkward, she hadn't hit the ground, and that was what mattered).

Beast Boy held her with one arm under her shoulders and another across her waist, reaching behind her back. As he looked down at the girl in his arms, he realized she had passed out cold. Also, now that he was close to her, Beast Boy noticed she smelled like smoke. "Jane…what happened to you?" he whispered with a heavy tone of concern in his voice, all other emotions temporarily forgotten.

But she didn't respond, and she'd gone totally limp. A moment of panic struck his heart, and he was about to call out for help when he picked up the faint sound of her breathing. She was lying on her side, but he was still able to see her shoulders slightly rising and falling with each breath she took. That was a good thing, right?

Then, in her sleep (which was more like a coma, really), Jane let out a soft whimper and muttered, "…not my fault…nng…I tried…I tried…" Her face contorted with what looked like fear or sadness.

Beast Boy, in a desperate attempt to make her feel better, leaned down and said softly in her ear, "It's alright, Jane. It's OK…you're safe…" He didn't know for sure if she heard him or not, but he took the calm that instantly overtook her face as a sign that she had. He smiled at her reaction.

Then, snapping back to the situation at hand, Beast Boy remembered he was still kneeling at the Tower's front door with an unconscious girl in his arms who probably needed medical attention. Looking up at the camera, hoping to signal Cyborg for help, he then also remembered the camera was still broken and no one could see him. Beast Boy finally realized that his only option was to carry Jane up to the Tower himself. Then he could wake the rest of the team and go from there.

Deciding he'd come back for her bags later, Beast Boy stood up, struggling to shift and balance the girl in his arms without dropping her. Then, he made his way into the Tower as quickly as he could. Once he had Jane in the living room, he nudged the light switch on with his elbow and gently (though gratefully, she was heavier than she looked) placed the unconscious girl on the curved couch, a slight déjà vu feeling ringing in the back of his mind as he did so. Then, he ran swiftly across the room and, ignoring the "Beast Boy, don't touch this button. Ever! – R." sign taped next to it, slammed his palm down on the big, red emergency alarm button, rousing his fellow Titans from their sleep.

After what felt like ages to the worried shape shifter (but was probably more like five or ten minutes), the other Titans slowly began to file into the room, expressions varying from rage to confusion on their faces. Robin, the first to enter the room, was the first to speak.

"Beast Boy, it's 4 o'clock in the morning. There better be a good reason you woke us all up. I know I've told you at least a hundred times-"

"I know what you're gonna say, but this is different; there's actually an emergency this time!" Beast Boy said, cutting off the Boy Wonder.

"Care to explain how a raccoon qualifies as an emergency?" Cyborg asked, an annoyed look crossing his face as he shut off the emergency alarm with a button on his arm. The other Titans gave the robot boy a confused looks, Robin mouthing a silent _'raccoon?'_ in his direction, but they all immediately returned their attention to the green boy as he continued to blather on.

"Does she look like a raccoon to you?" Beast Boy retorted, gesturing animatedly to the sofa.

The Titans looked confused, some wondering why and when Beast Boy had decided the gender of the sofa, others wondering why the sofa was an emergency. Yet Robin, being the leader, still felt the need to investigate. Out of curiosity, the other Titans followed behind him, though they kept back a safe distance. Walking past the possibly deranged shape shifter, Robin stepped around to the front of the sofa and finally saw who was passed out there. Several of the Titans (all of them, really, save for Beast Boy and Raven) gave out sharp gasps of surprise.

Seeing the condition Jane was in, Robin skipped over confusion and went straight into concerned-leader mode. He knelt in front of the sofa and took Jane's pulse, a serious look on his face, as he demanded, "Beast Boy, explain. What happened to her?"

"I don't know, that's what I've been trying to tell you!" Beast Boy exclaimed, frustrated. "She was the one banging on the door setting off Cyborg's security alarm, but I didn't know that until I went down and found her there! She was just kneeling on the ground, and she looked like she'd been crying. She didn't say much before she passed out, and then I brought her up here."

"What did she say?" Robin asked, still keeping his attention on Jane.

"'Sorry…'" he replied quietly.

"Well, that doesn't tell us anything," Robin replied, standing up to face the rest of the team. "But she definitely needs medical attention. Cyborg, you and Raven can take her to the infirmary; I'll be in in a minute. The rest of you, try to get some sleep."

With a nod of agreement, Cyborg stepped up to the sofa. He then lifted Jane gently into his arms and carried her out of the room with ease; a silent Raven following closely behind him. Beast Boy turned away and pouted as the rest of the Titans cleared out of the room. Cyborg always got to carry the girls.


	15. Chapter 14: Waking Up

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 14

A/N: This is Chapter 14 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

PS. I've been trying out the image uploader they have on here, and plan to use it from time to time to give extra visuals for certain chapters (like this one) that may be a little confusing otherwise. Or if I happen to draw something spectacular that relates to the story, but odds are it'll just be maps and things like that that I've done up on MS Paint. For example, the map I've uploaded of the main floor of Titans' Tower will obviously be applicable to most of the story, but it comes in handy for this one especially. No, it's probably not entirely accurate. I made up a lot of it based on what I saw in the show (or what's convenient for me). Honestly, I don't think anyone working on the show ever made an actual layout of the Tower; it seems to be just a bunch of mystery hallways and excessive floors. I don't know how to attach images to any one chapter, so if there's an important picture you should know about, I'll just mention it here. Let me know if you find these pictures helpful or just unnecessary (or just plain god awful). But anyway, on with the story!

* * *

><p>***Beast Boy's POV***<p>

More than three days had passed since Jane arrived at the Tower, and more than three days had passed since she'd been conscious. He put on a good show for his friends, but on the inside, the changeling was a wreck. Every day (sometimes more than once in a day), he'd go into the infirmary to check on Jane, but she wouldn't wake up. She hadn't responded to his voice, his thoughts, his prayers. The only answer had been the steady beeping of her heart monitor.

Some part of him knew that it was Jane in that bed; her dark hair and wings unmistakable. But a stronger, more influential part of him only saw Terra lying there, bandaged and unconscious, hooked up to tubes and machines, and it tore him up inside. The more time went by, the more worried he became. How could it be normal for her to not wake up after all this time? She had to wake up, or he'd be losing Terra all over again, and he wasn't sure that was something he could live through twice.

But Beast Boy knew he couldn't panic, and the other Titans had told him not to worry. She'd be fine, they said, and all she needed was to catch up on her rest. At least her heart monitor was steady, and she seemed to be sleeping peacefully every time he'd visited her (except for the first few hours she'd been there. She'd passed out, but she kept crying in her sleep).

Since the day after Jane's arrival, Robin had been acting weirder than usual whenever Jane was mentioned. Something about him wanting to be the first one to talk to her when she woke up. Beast Boy had briefly considered telling the Boy Wonder to get in line and take a number, until Robin mentioned having rigged an alarm from Jane's heart monitor to his communicator, so he'd know when Jane woke up. He told the rest of the Titans that after he spoke with her, he'd let them in for a visit.

But that didn't seem like enough, at least not for Beast Boy. He didn't want to have to wait to be told when he could and couldn't talk to Jane. He also didn't want to be left in the dark regarding her condition, not even for a minute. Beast Boy sometimes caught himself waiting outside the Boy Wonder's door now and then (whenever he wasn't lurking in or around the infirmary), hoping to hear that alarm for himself. He'd even taken to staking out the Boy wonder's bedroom door at night, and this night was no different. Once again, after ensuring everyone else was asleep, Beast Boy had snuck off down the hall to his friend's room, where he perched in the form of a bat in the shadows above the doorway, listening.

Sometimes he found it hard to stay awake, and would take brief flights up and down the halls to keep himself from falling asleep, but tonight it just didn't seem to be doing the trick. Soon after taking his post above Robin's door, the green boy found his eyes deceiving him and slipping shut against his will. Even as his eyes closed, Beast Boy mentally reassured himself that, if that alarm went off, he'd be sure to hear it. But for now, he'd let his eyes rest. _'Just for a minute…'_ he promised himself. But the shape shifter soon fell into a deep, troubled sleep filled with blonde, blue-eyed, winged nightmares.

***Return to Normal/Sabbath's POV***

Beep…

Beep…

Beep…

_'There it is again,'_ Sabbath thought, _'that stupid beeping. What IS that?'_ she wondered. She'd heard it on and off several times, she was sure. She wanted to open her eyes to investigate, but found they wouldn't open. She knew she should've been worried about that, but she wasn't. Something in the back of her mind kept insisting something was wrong; something big had happened and she needed to wake up and remember what it was. But Sabbath found the inner voice rather annoying. As far as she knew, things were pretty good, aside from the beeping. So what if her eyes wouldn't open? No biggie. For now she was comfortable, calm, and blissfully numb. She had no idea where she was, or what was going on, but she didn't care. All that was bothering her was the beeping.

It was starting to get faster, too. Or was it? She listened, trying to focus. Yes, it had definitely picked up the pace. It was still going at a steady rate, just faster than it had been before. And it suddenly seemed louder, too.

Feeling was now slowly beginning to return to her body, consciousness invading against her will. She realized she was lying down. Maybe she was in bed, and the beeping was her alarm. But why would she set an alarm if it was summer? That's right, school was over and it was summer vacation. In fact, hadn't the Millers just taken her out for dinner in celebration of-

Sabbath's eyes shot open and she sat up in blind panic as all her memories came crashing down at once. The Millers. Her nightmare. The fire. The ambulance. The cops. Yelling…crying…running…

That's right, she'd run to Titans' Tower. She figured that's where she was now. Snapping out of her memories, Sabbath glanced around, finally taking in her surroundings. She was in a bed in some kind of hospital room. The lights were off, but in the dim glow of a computer panel on the far wall she could just make out a pale blue blanket covering her body from the waist down, a tiny nightstand to the right of her bed, and various important-looking machines scattered about the room around her (one of which was probably the source of the accursed beeping).

Suddenly, a door she hadn't realized was there swished open directly across from her bed, letting in a painfully bright stream of light. Sabbath squinted and tried to block out the light with her hand, but she found her arm felt unusually heavy and wouldn't stay in front of her eyes. Her head threatened to start pounding in rebellion. Then, as suddenly as it had opened, the door disappeared again, taking the offending light with it. Opening her eyes and blinking to clear the spots that now filled her vision, Sabbath was able to make out a dark haired boy slowly making his way towards her from where the door had been.

"Jane, are you awake?" a voice asked.

Sabbath didn't know how to answer that, she found her mind was a little fuzzy. She simply continued to stare in the direction of the intruder, waiting for her vision to clear. Stupid light.

"Are you in pain?" Robin asked as he approached the foot of her bed, looking at her strangely when she didn't answer before shooting the surrounding machinery a suspicious gaze, as if it had defied him by allowing her to be in any pain.

"No-" she started to reply, before a brief coughing fit came over her. She cleared her throat and tried again, "No, I'm fine. I think." She couldn't feel any pain, but then again she couldn't feel much of anything. She looked down at herself, checking for any glaring injuries that might indicate she should feel pain, but all she found was a chunky clip on her right index finger hooked up to the machine she suspected was responsible for the beeping, as well as a couple tubes going into her left arm between her elbow joint and the bandages wrapped around the marks on her forearm. She looked up, following the tubes to their source; small plastic pouches of clear liquid hanging on a hook above her bed. She then found that looking up made her dizzy, and fell back on her pillows. Suddenly feeling nauseous, Sabbath closed her eyes and threw a still-bandaged forearm across her face as the room slowly continued to tilt.

"Easy, you're on a sedative," Robin informed her, "among other things. Raven said you were dehydrated, exhausted, and recovering from shock." He sounded vaguely suspicious.

"Uh-huh…" Sabbath murmured, barely taking in all the information. She faintly remembered some guy telling her pretty much the same thing not too long ago. "Um, what time is it?" she asked suddenly, remembering that it had been dark out when she'd arrived.

"It's 6am," Robin replied.

So she'd only been at the Tower for a few hours, at the most. That wasn't so bad.

"6am, three days after you got here," the Boy Wonder continued, a grim, serious tone in his voice.

Sabbath flung her arm back down to her side as her eyes shot open in surprise. Could she really have slept for three days straight? Then again, she _had_ been through a lot. But still, sleeping for three days was definitely not healthy or normal. She'd been in a fire, true; but it's not like she'd been injured, really. And while the Millers' recent rejection had stung, it wasn't as if she wasn't used to that sort of thing (or so she told herself). How could she possibly have passed out for three days? It just didn't make sense. The only thing that came to mind was the possibility of overexerting her powers between the nightmare and trying to put out the fire, but it didn't seem to Sabbath that she'd used up that much of her energy.

But wait, hadn't Robin just said they'd sedated her? She was about to ask him what medications they'd given her when he continued to speak as if he'd read her thoughts.

"The sedative we gave you wasn't enough to keep you unconscious, just enough to make you relax. You were crying in your sleep, and you needed to be in a deeper level of sleep in order for your body to heal. You slept on your own all this time. Some of us were starting to get worried," he explained. "But Raven said you'd wake up when you were ready."

Sabbath wasn't sure what to think. So she really had slept for three days. Thinking back, she realized she hadn't had any nightmares in all that time, or even dreams. She figured the sedatives were probably to blame for that, but she was thankful; the last thing she wanted was to relive the whole house fire (and the events that had followed) over and over again in her dreams. Or worse, have the Dark Man scold her for not being able to do anything about the fire.

"So how do you feel?" Robin asked again.

"Um…alright, I guess," Sabbath replied, taking inventory of her body as she felt the pain killers she suspected were in one of the tubes in her arm start to wear off. "My throat's a little scratchy, but that's pretty much it." Raising a bandaged hand, she remembered the burns she'd gotten in the fire (who grabs a metal doorknob when the house is on fire? Oh yeah, her…). She examined her hand in the dim light of the room and slowly flexed her fingers as much as the bandages would allow. She was surprised to find it didn't hurt at all.

"Good," Robin said, coming closer and pulling up a folding chair from behind the nightstand. He had the back of the chair facing Sabbath and sat on it backwards (an oddly boyish action for someone usually so professional), resting his crossed arms over the back as he studied her closely. "Because there's something we need to talk about."

Sabbath sat up again, finding being stared at while laying down indescribably disturbing. Luckily, the nausea didn't return. She turned to give the Titan her full attention. She felt that, by the tone of his voice, she was in trouble for something.

"Jane, what happened to you?" Robin asked. He sounded serious, but was that a hint of worry in his voice?

"What do you mean?" Sabbath replied, unsure how to answer the question. Should she tell him about the fire? How would he react if he knew what had really happened? She had no way of knowing, but she couldn't stand another rejection so soon. Then again, her brain wasn't coming up with any better excuses for her condition. An awkward silence stretched out, filled only by the continuous beeping from a nearby machine.

"I mean," he began, in a tone implying he didn't think he should have to explain himself, "Why did you show up here in the middle of the night, covered in burns and bruises, and pass out for three days?"

"…" Sabbath racked her brain for any plausible response aside from the truth, but came up with nothing. The beeping got a little faster as Sabbath felt her pulse starting to race. What to say? Robin continued to look her in the eye (it was weird; even though she couldn't see his eyes behind the mask, she knew that's what he was doing), waiting for an answer.

When she still didn't reply, Robin finally turned his attention to the nightstand. He pulled open the front drawer and produced a newspaper. He handed it to Sabbath, an unreadable look on his face.

Sabbath's stomach tied itself in knots as she reached out with a pale, bandaged hand and took the paper. She had a feeling she knew what it would say. Looking down, she saw a massive headline staring back at her. "UNEXPLAINABLE FIRE DESTROYS HOME; DAUGHTER STILL MISSING". Printed under that was a large, color photo of an average, upper-class three-story house. Next to that was an image of the same house burning and surrounded by police cruisers, fire trucks, ambulances, and clusters of various onlookers. Sabbath didn't want to read the article. She felt like reducing it to a pile of ash right then and there, but she knew that wouldn't help anything. So instead she skimmed through the article, if for no other reason than to make sure her real name hadn't been released.

"Five-alarm fire destroys three-story home…Mysterious origins…A possible explosion…All three family members got out safely…Couple briefly admitted to local hospital for minor injuries…Teenaged daughter ran away from EMTs at the scene…Whereabouts remain unknown…Days pass…Still no report filed with Bureau Of Missing Persons…Details still to come…"

"That was your house, wasn't it?" Robin asked, although it didn't sound like a question.

Sabbath looked up from the article. Since there was no solid proof in the article that connected it to her, she briefly considered denying the whole thing until she remembered that day when the Titans had given her a ride home. They may not have dropped her off at her house, but they saw which one she went in to. Sabbath hung her head slightly and sighed, feeling defeated. A lock of curly hair slipped over her shoulder as she handed the newspaper back to the Boy Wonder. "Yeah," she replied glumly, keeping her eyes downcast. "There was a fire…the whole house went up…Everyone got out alright, though…"

"Did you start the fire, Jane?"

Sabbath's head shot up, and the beeping sound in the room got even faster. Robin's expression was serious, giving nothing away. She didn't know what kind of answer he was expecting from her. Her first instinct was to yell and get defensive. Who was he to accuse her of something like that? But looking at Robin, she knew yelling would do no good. She had a feeling that yelling at him was like yelling at a wall. Finally, she just came out with the truth. "I honestly don't know," she replied, her gaze again fixed on the blanket in her lap. The beeping noise slowed slightly as she calmed down. "I woke up and my whole room was on fire. I tried my hardest to stop it; I tried to put it out, but there was too much. I just couldn't," she said, her voice thick with regret as she threw up her bandaged hands in a gesture of defeat. "So I grabbed a couple things, pulled my foster parents out of their room, and got out of there. Or I tried to, anyway. I got kind of dizzy on the way out, and I think firemen came and rescued us. Next thing I knew I was sitting in an ambulance getting patched up…"

He nodded slowly, as if that explained a few things. Then he added, "If you didn't start the fire, then why did you run away?"

God, the guy was like a dog with a bone; he just couldn't let this go! Sabbath was getting sick of all the questions, and really didn't want to answer this last one. But she knew answers would be the only way to get him off her back. She decided to go with the painful truth on this one, too, hoping he'd realize it was a sensitive topic and that his probing was crossing a line. This time, however, she couldn't help the frustration that was starting to creep into her voice as she replied, "Because my foster parents were hysterical and blaming the whole thing on me after all I'd done was save their lives! How would you feel being screamed at and called 'a thing of evil' in front of a huge crowd?! And there were so many people staring at me, and whispering to each other…" Her eyes started to prick with tears, and the beeping noise in the room picked up the pace once again as she self-consciously snapped her wings tightly against her back, reliving the whole scenario in her head. So much for the sedative keeping her relaxed. "How would you feel," she continued, her voice softening, "if people you thought loved you suddenly turned on you? How would you feel if every day, people put on a show around you, pretending you were like everyone else, yet when the chips were down they're more than willing to shout 'burn her at the stake!'? How would you feel if, no matter how much good you tried to do, it all seemed to be for nothing?"

Robin just continued to stare at her as tears started to drip down her face. For a minute, Sabbath thought he was going to say something else, but instead he stood up, folded up his chair and tucked it back behind the nightstand. Sabbath sniffed and wiped the tears from her face as the Boy Wonder walked around to the other side of her bed and started removing the tubes from her arms. Reaching for a shelf under one of the machine stands, he then produced a cotton ball and wiped away the small beads of blood that started to form when the needles were finally taken out. He then went about unwinding the gauze bandages from her hands. Surprisingly, he didn't touch the bandages that were wrapped around her forearms, nor did he even mention them. He was ignoring them on purpose, and Sabbath could tell. She wondered if he knew what they hid. His face was impossible to read. Sabbath watched him, unsure what he was going to do next.

Finally, after he disconnected her from all the machines in the room and turned them off, he walked across the room to the opposite wall. Without turning back to face her, he ordered "close your eyes." His tone seemed a bit gentler than it had earlier; Sabbath took that as a good sign. Suddenly, before she had a chance to process what he'd just said, there was a soft "click!" and the room was flooded with light. Sabbath cried out as she slammed her eyes shut and covered them with her hands.

"Told you," she heard him reply as he walked back towards her. That better not have been a grin she heard in his voice.

Slowly, Sabbath pried her hands away from her face and eased her eyes open. Robin had turned the lights on in the room, although it felt to Sabbath as if he'd just aimed a laser in her face. She squinted and rubbed her eyes, silently demanding they adjust faster, but after three straight days of sleep, it was no surprise she was sensitive to light. Finally, when she could open her eyes without them watering, she turned her attention to Robin once again. He'd returned to her bedside.

"Think you can stand?" he asked, holding a gloved hand out to her.

Sabbath again got a sense of déjà vu, feeling someone else had recently asked her that same question. But she ignored it, taking the Boy Wonder's hand as she tossed the blue blanket aside and swung her legs off the bed. And stopped right there.

Looking down at herself, Sabbath felt her face redden. So many things were wrong. Primarily, she was positive she hadn't been wearing a light pink nightgown and purple, fuzzy socks when she'd arrived at the Tower. She thought she remembered wearing one of her extra-long nightshirts, and hadn't she slipped on her pink and black boots? If so, where were they now? Since her sneakers had burned in the fire, those boots were the only shoes she had now. Their absence was definitely a problem, but if her clothes were different, that meant someone had dressed her, and that was an even bigger problem. Lastly, and most embarrassingly of all, the nightgown she was wearing had slipped up when she'd swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Shorts would've covered more leg than the nightgown was right then. Normally, she wouldn't have cared about that since she was wearing pajamas and had just woken up from a three-day coma, and she wasn't completely exposed or anything. But the fact that Robin the Boy Wonder was standing two feet away from her definitely made it an issue. A couple inches higher, and that nightgown would've been dangerously close to exposing what would be, with her luck, the most embarrassing pair of panties she owned.

Quickly pulling her hand from the Boy Wonder's, Sabbath used both hands to hastily jerk the nightgown back where it belonged. Still too embarrassed to make eye contact with him, Sabbath instead used the railing near the head of the bed to keep her balance as she stood up. For a moment, Sabbath just stood there as pins and needles raced through her legs and feet. She waited until it passed and she was sure she could walk on her own before she let go of the bed and looked up to meet Robin's eyes. Oddly enough, she found he'd turned away from her, and was suddenly standing at the foot of the bed, silently facing the door across the room. As she took a couple steps in his direction, Sabbath thought she saw a hint of color on his cheeks and ears. She couldn't decide if it was cute or if it just made the situation that much more awkward.

***Robin's POV***

Jane had caught him off guard. She shouldn't have, but she had nonetheless. He knew Starfire had changed Jane into different clothes, but he hadn't expected it to be a nightgown that was so…maybe he shouldn't have offered to help her up, but how could he have known…? As soon as he'd noticed, and noticed her reaction, he'd really wanted to be elsewhere. He quickly turned his back to give Jane some privacy, and had moved away to stand at the foot of the bed as well, just for good measure. Against his will, he felt his face begin to redden. He never claimed to understand girls, but how could they wear things like that without pants? Even if it was just for pajamas? Maybe they thought panti-…underw-…were enough? Did STARFIRE think that? After all, that was technically Starfire's; did that mean that when SHE got up in the morning, the same thing-?

The sound of the mattress creaking behind him alerted him to the fact that Jane had managed to stand up on her own. Even as his mind continued to spiral further out of control, Robin still kept his senses open to what was going on in the room around him. After a minute, he picked up the soft, nearly inaudible sound of her walking towards him across the tile floor. But just to be safe, he waited until he saw her in his peripheral vision to turn around. Plus, in doing so, he gave himself time to clear his face of any and all signs of emotion.

***Return to normal/Sabbath's POV***

The room had become unbearably quiet, as neither teen knew what to say to the other. Luckily, Sabbath didn't have to break the awkward silence, because as she neared the Boy Wonder, he seemed to spot her out of the corner of his eye and turned to face her. But by the time he did so, all traces of color (and whatever emotion there may have been) had vanished, and he was the image of professionalism once again.

After briefly clearing his throat, Robin said, "You must be hungry. Feel like joining us for breakfast? It's still kind of early; the rest of the Team won't be up for another hour or so. But that'd give you time to freshen up," he paused, and Sabbath caught him steal a pained glance up at her hair. She didn't even want to imagine what it looked like at this point. Luckily, she had yet to discover something her industrial-strength hair straightener couldn't fix.

But wait.

Her house had just burned down, along with almost all of her things. She'd only saved the few items she'd grabbed in her room. Had she remembered her straightener? What _had_ she remembered?

"Where are my bags?" Sabbath suddenly asked, slightly de-railing Robin's train of thought.

He was thrown for a loop for a second or two before he seemed to suddenly remember something. "Oh, right. Starfire put your clothes in the wash, and Cyborg put your bags in one of the spare rooms here in the Tower. It was just a purse and a guitar case, right?"

"Yeah…" Sabbath agreed, hating the glaring light of perspective Robin had just shed on her situation. That really was all she had left to her name; a few articles of clothes, whatever was in her purse, her guitar, and her jewelry box-

"Oh no…" Sabbath whispered. Her eyes grew wide and her heart clenched as she thought about what the jewelry box contained, what it stood for…_who_ it stood for. She then remembered all of her sister's things that had been in that house, all the boxes she'd been holding on to for the day Dawn came back. She hadn't taken any of it out of the fire, just the jewelry box. All of Dawn's clothes, as well as everything else she'd left behind at the children's home that had fallen into Sabbath's care…now just piles of ash. Because of a fire Sabbath had caused but couldn't control.

"Um…"Robin stuttered, at a loss after finally seeming to realize how insensitive his words had been. He watched Sabbath's eyes glaze over and the tears start to silently well over her cheeks. She suddenly seemed very far away. "Come on, follow me," he said, briefly (awkwardly) resting a hand on Sabbath's shoulder before turning away and walking out of the infirmary. Sabbath shuffled numbly after him, walking silently behind him as he led the way down the hallway to an elevator.

Once inside the elevator car, silence ensued once more, encompassing the two teens like a smothering fog. Finally, in an attempt to lighten the mood, Robin spoke up. "By the way, I'm sure Beast Boy's tried to convince you tofu is a great substitute for food and bragged about his tofu-cooking skills, but don't worry; today's Cyborg's day to make breakfast."

Sabbath flashed a weak smile in response. Then, when her mind conjured an image of the two boys actually cooking (complete with aprons and chef's hats), the grin that followed was genuine, as was the giggle.

Robin was right. The day she'd helped fight Plasmus, Beast Boy had been telling her how he made excellent tofu pizza, and then Cyborg had warned her away from anything that had the word "tofu" in it. Sabbath couldn't help but smile at the memory.

The elevator car continued to ascend slowly, only now the silence that filled it was a more comfortable one. Well, emotionally speaking. Literally, however, it wasn't very comfortable at all. The air conditioning seemed to Sabbath as if it were set to arctic, and the cold tile floor and metal walls of the elevator didn't exactly make for the warmest environment. Not to mention she was technically not wearing pants. Sabbath wrapped her hands around her upper arms and shivered as she stretched her wings out and wrapped them around her shoulders. Only afterwards did she remember she wasn't alone. The motion had been instinctive, but in the confined space of the elevator, she'd nearly smacked Robin in the face with the tip of her right wing.

"Heh, sorry," she said softly, offering a small grin.

"Are you cold?" he asked.

"How could you tell?"

Robin smiled at his own stupidity despite himself. "These elevators can get a little chilly," he explained. _'Especially if you're not wearing pants!'_ he couldn't help thinking to himself. Not that he knew from experience or anything, it just made sense that, if a person wasn't wearing enough clothing, they'd get cold). Out loud, he added, "We're almost there," as he looked up at the screen above the elevator door, which was announcing each floor as it came and went. Finally, at the top floor, the elevator stopped and the door slid open.

The hallway they stepped out into looked nearly identical to the one they'd just left (and was thankfully much warmer than the elevator). If it weren't for the number printed on the wall next to the elevator, and the number indicated inside of it on the screen, Sabbath would've thought they hadn't moved at all. She was beginning to notice redundancy was a major decorating theme in the Tower. Like every other hallway she'd seen, this one was grey and windowless, and the lights in the ceiling seemed to be dimmed almost completely off (though compared to the near total darkness of the infirmary, the light from the hallway had seemed a lot brighter at first).

"This way," Robin said, stepping out of the elevator.

_'Not like there's any other way to go,'_ Sabbath thought. At first, the hallway only seemed to lead one way; away from the elevator. Then up ahead, she could make out a four-way intersection where the hallway split into 3 different directions. When she followed Robin around the corner to the left, they came to a much longer hallway containing several widely-spaced doors. From where she stood, Sabbath saw there were signs on the two doors on either side of her, but the rest of the doors were too far away (and the hallway was too dark) for her to make out the rest. The door to her immediate right had a simple co-ed bathroom sign on it, but what she had thought was a sign on the other door was actually just a rectangle that was lighter than the rest of the door, marked by an outline of dust and a hole in each corner. It was as if there'd been a sign there once, and it had been there for a while, but it had since been removed.

Sabbath couldn't help her curiosity. She stopped walking as she neared the door and asked, "Hey, what's this door?"

Robin stopped, too, though he didn't turn around. Sabbath felt his mood darken slightly, even though she couldn't see his face. He kept his back to her as he replied, "…Storage. _Private_ storage."

Despite his vague non-answer, the tone in Robin's voice indicated that the door and whatever it was hiding was personal and not up for discussion, but she had a feeling it wasn't just storage. It made her feel better about her own secrets, now that she knew the leader of the Teen Titans had secrets of his own. But her curious side was still getting the better of her, and she made a mental note to ask the other Titans about the door later.

"And the rest of the team will tell you the same thing, so don't ask them about it either. It's not important. Really," Robin added, once more seeming to have read Sabbath's mind. It definitely creeped her out (and frustrated her beyond reason), but she figured it was one of the more obnoxious character traits that went with being an egotistical superhero; always being one step ahead.

Then, without another word, Robin continued on down the hallway, assuming Sabbath would simply follow him. And she did, grudgingly, since she had nowhere else to go. She'd think about the mystery door later; for now, she had more important things to worry about.

Soon, Sabbath spotted two more doors. The one on the left, which was closest to her, had a blank sign on it, while the door further down on the right had what looked like a picture of a barbell posted on it. She figured it was a gym of some sort, and didn't bother asking. It was the door with the blank sign on it that had her attention now.

"More storage?" she asked.

"Not quite," Robin replied, no hint of humor in his voice. "It's just a spare bedroom. This should be where Cyborg put your things." Once he was in front of the door, he stopped and touched a button on the wall. Suddenly, the door slid open into the wall, but the room beyond was dark. It may have just been a side effect of whatever medications she'd been on, but Sabbath found the whole situation kind of creepy. She was in a dim, deserted hallway leading to a dark, unused room…it just creeped her out. She waited for Robin to walk into the room first before going in herself. When he didn't cry out in pain or run screaming from the room, Sabbath followed him in, though she kept one fist clenched at her side, poised and ready to fight if need be.

Once inside the room, Sabbath walked blindly about for a minute or two before she heard a soft "sweesh!" She flinched at the unexpected sound, but was relieved at the sudden flood of soft, pinkish-yellow light. Turning around, she saw that Robin had simply opened the blinds, revealing a massive window facing the rising sun.

"Total light-canceling curtains," he explained, gesturing over his shoulder at the window. "Anyway, here are your bags," he continued as he walked over the bed that was tucked into the far corner of the room. Sure enough, perched atop the plain sheets were her black guitar case and dusty, singed purse. "Unfortunately, it looks like Cyborg still hasn't gotten around to getting this room hooked up, so until then, there won't be any electricity or anything in here. All that works for now is the door," he said, pointing towards the button on the wall beside the doorjamb. "But everything should be up and working soon. When you're ready, come on down to the living room. Just walk back up the hall and turn left. Come find me if you need anything."

And with that, Robin took his leave, his cape flaring behind him as the door slid shut.

***Robin's POV***

His mind now cleared of the earlier…distraction, Robin found that he still didn't completely trust Jane; there were a few details in her story that just didn't add up. He'd been a little wary of her since the day they fought Control Freak, and now he had even more reasons to question her. If she hadn't caused the fire in that house, what had, and why were her parents so sure she'd done it? Why hadn't anyone reported her to the Bureau of Missing Persons if no one knew where she was? What were those marks on her arms, had someone attacked her in the fire? Perhaps the person who'd caused it? And, most importantly, why had absolutely NOTHING come up when he'd ordered a background check on her? He knew she was hiding something big; no one as innocent as she claimed to be would have so many holes in their story. But on the other hand, she honestly didn't seem all that dangerous. He felt confident in his ability to read people's intentions; their true moral compasses. But he couldn't argue with facts, or in this case, the lack thereof. Besides, as Jane had reminded him when she'd pointed out the door to Terra's old room, his gut had been wrong before and it had nearly cost the Titans their lives. He couldn't let that happen again; he _wouldn't _let it happen.

Yet he still felt torn. Had he really been so wrong? True, Terra had almost destroyed the team, the city, and everything in it, but hadn't she made the ultimate sacrifice and saved them all in the end? Slade had been the one pulling the strings, after all, and Robin knew from personal experience how easy it was for Slade to manipulate people. The sick bastard could get anyone to do anything for him whenever he pleased, regardless of that person's will to act. Then again, Robin had found his way out of Slade's clutches; there was no reason Terra couldn't have done the same.

Robin's thoughts continued to swirl indecisively as he entered the living room. Thankfully, it was empty and quiet. He still had some time to himself to think. He walked over to the bay window and stared at his reflection superimposed over the view of the ocean. Maybe he could use a second opinion. Or third. Or fourth. As much as he didn't like the idea, Robin then decided to talk things over with the rest of the Titans before taking any definitive action.


	16. Chapter 15: Doubts

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 15

A/N: This is Chapter 15 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

PS. College is back in session, but I'll still do my best to update at least once a month (preferably more! Keep in mind that I don't post a chapter until I'm at least half-way done with the next one). I can't believe I'm already at the 15th chapter mark. It didn't seem like a lot until I actually said it out loud the other day then it really hit me. But not to worry, the story's only just getting started! Sorry if it seems like things are dragging, but keep reading; and trust me when I say things get better! : D And btw, this chapter may not be absolutely perfect, but I sensed the masses were becoming impatient, so here you go!

* * *

><p>***Raven's POV***<p>

It was 6:15am when Raven walked into the living room, and she instantly knew something was wrong. The whole room was filled with a hazy cloud of negative emotions. It was giving her a headache. She frowned. It was too early in the morning for anyone to be that upset.

As she made her way towards the kitchen, she thought it was just one of the Titans having a bad dream. But no, the more she analyzed it, the more certain she became that whatever was causing the negativity was rooted in the real world. Raven paused, looking around the room for the source of the gloom. Then, in the far corner, she spotted Robin staring out the window. His thoughts were far away and tangled up with indecisiveness, and his face (or what she could make out reflected in the glass) was a stone slate.

Half of her wanted to ignore the dark gloom in the room; to pretend she didn't know it was there and go on with her morning routine. Robin could deal with whatever was bothering him on his own; he didn't need anyone to hold his hand, he never had. But as she turned her attention towards the tea kettle and started to levitate it towards the sink, the other half of her realized she couldn't just ignore a friend in such obvious pain. The tea could wait. With a mental sigh, she silently set the kettle back down on the counter, lowered her hood, and walked across the room towards the troubled teen.

Raven figured she had maybe half an hour to talk to Robin in peace before anyone else woke up. At the end of the hall, she could sense Starfire still fast asleep in her room, and she knew Cyborg's sleep cycle didn't usually end until 7am. Beast boy wasn't in his room, but she could sense him sleeping somewhere in the Tower; somewhere suspiciously close to Robin's room? _'Whatever…_'

But wait. Somewhere else in the Tower, she sensed Jane's mind. She didn't know the girl well enough to be able to completely decode her brain activity, but she knew she was awake, and a lot closer than the infirmary. Raven assumed she'd woken up and Robin had showed her to a spare bedroom for the time being. Maybe he'd talked to her, and that's what was bothering him.

As she neared the Boy Wonder, his conflicted thoughts were so overwhelming it was almost difficult to breathe. She really hated these kinds of emotional interactions, but it had to be done. Aside from the fact that he was her friend, Raven knew that emotions like that only grew and got worse the longer they were left unresolved. She stopped a couple feet behind him and caught his eye in his reflection.

"Morning," he said automatically when he noticed her presence. "You're up early."

"So are you," she commented. Then, after a pause, she added, "So, Jane woke up."

Robin responded with the typical grunt of agreement that only guys can make and call it conversation. He still didn't turn to face her, and instead returned his focus to the view outside.

"What did she say?" she prompted, hoping to get a few more syllables out of him this time.

Robin just sighed. He then turned around, walked right past Raven, and flung himself down on the couch, giving off waves of frustration. Once seated, he slumped forward, rested his forearms on his knees, and bowed his head in a pensive gesture. Finally, he spoke. "She said her house burned down, but she didn't know how the fire started. She saved her stepparents and then they turned on her and that's why she ran away. She was telling the truth, but there're still a few things that I can't figure out."

"You sure she was telling the truth?" Raven asked, sounding as skeptical as Robin felt.

"Positive," he replied, still not making eye contact. "Aside from getting a little emotional, her heart monitor stayed steady through the whole story."

Raven raised an eyebrow at that last bit. He'd actually interrogated the girl with her heart monitor still on. Raven understood why it had to be done, but it was still a low trick. There was definitely no honor in that, and she suspected that was part of what was bothering him.

"But it just doesn't make sense," he continued, staring at the floor. "If she ran away, why hasn't anyone reported her missing? And if she didn't start the fire, who did?" He paused and looked up at Raven (with a hint of guilt on his face) before adding, "And…after we first met her that day with Cinderblock, I did a background check on a Jane Hellingsworth. The only result that came back was from a woman who died over 15 years ago, and Jane was only her middle name."

"That's still quite a coincidence," Raven commented. What were the odds of someone having almost the same name as someone who'd been dead over a decade?

"Exactly," Robin replied. "But you've met Jane; we've all met her. She honestly doesn't seem all that dangerous."

"Wonder if Control Freak feels the same," Raven said, a world of implications hidden in one small sentence.

Robin's brow furrowed, but he stayed silent.

Raven could tell there was more bothering him than he would say. She suddenly got a quick flash of his mind. It wasn't a lot, just an image of a girl's arms with massive handprints encircling her forearms, as well as an association: _'Jane.'_ Raven tried to ignore the vision she got from Robin, acting as if nothing had happened, yet storing the information away for later study. Then, in an effort to maintain the flow of conversation, she asked, "Still thinking of adding her to the team?"

"I…I'm not sure." It was true, Robin and the rest of the Titans had planned to surprise Jane when she recovered and ask her to be an official Teen Titan. He'd even gone so far as to have Starfire take Jane's communicator (the one Beast Boy had given her without permission) out of her bag so they could present it to her properly. However, he'd started to question that decision after he read that newspaper article. But could he really let one article change his mind? Jane had been helping them out for over a month now, even when it was inconvenient for her. Yet, he couldn't deny she had the potential to be very dangerous. "What do you think?"

"I think she's hiding something, but everyone has secrets. It doesn't make them bad people. But I also think she's dangerous. We've all seen what her powers can do, and the fact that she runs out of energy so easily shows how loose her control over them is."

"Then maybe she just needs help?" he offered, hope creeping into his voice. "She's been a great asset to the Team so far. She's a little rough around the edges, but I think a little practice could fix that…" Robin trailed off, losing himself in thought.

Raven sighed. She knew Robin never backed down from a challenge. Only now she feared he was confusing a challenge with a lost cause. And while it was true that having secrets didn't make Jane a bad person, lying about important things did. Maybe it hadn't been just stray emotions setting off that heart monitor. She was about to say as much when a sudden "BOOYAH! Mornin', y'all!" filled the room, followed by an equally loud "Yes, glorious morning salutations to you all, friends!" Raven grimaced at the sudden rush of two more conscious, teenaged minds entering the room; their thoughts and emotions almost as loud as their voices.

Then came the usual storm of commotion and arguing over what to make for breakfast. Raven watched as Robin stood up, immediately slipping back into his role of relaxed, problem-solving team leader. He headed towards the kitchen area, already beginning the daily routine of calming the breakfast debate. To Raven, it almost seemed as if their conversation hadn't taken place. But she could still sense the wad of murky, troubled thoughts now crammed into the back of the boy's mind. He may not show it, but Raven could tell he still had doubts he hadn't expressed. She also knew he'd be mulling over the Jane situation obsessively until all the pieces of the puzzle fit together perfectly.

She sighed. With most of her friends now awake and present (Beast Boy was still sleeping somewhere. Weird…), the psychic atmosphere had definitely become more crowded, despite all the physical, open space in the room. But it was a feeling Raven was used to. Peace and quiet were nice, but she found this sort of thing almost comforting, too, in its own way. This was how things were supposed to be. She felt her heart warmed by the harmless banter thrown about amongst the Titans as they argued in the kitchen. It was pointless, immature, obnoxious noise, to be sure, but Raven doubted she could go a day without it.

Yet even as she approached the kitchen in what some may call a good mood (for her, anyway), she couldn't help her mind flashing back to the last time a newcomer had arrived at the Tower. The last time a new Titan had been added to the team, and a new friend had been made. Well, friend wasn't exactly the best word, considering the girl had later nearly destroyed the entire city, as well as the Titans themselves. That had been a sharp blow to everyone, emotionally as well as physically. Raven still didn't totally understand how everyone came back from such betrayal intact, but then again, she supposed everyone had their own way of covering their wounds.

Raven looked at the group of her friends, laughing and yelling together, their auras bright and happy. She swore she'd never let anything destroy their happiness again, especially not some sketchy newcomer.

***Beast Boy's POV***

Nestled in the shadows above the second door on the left, the Beast Boy bat hung fast asleep, dead to the world. It had been days since he'd last been able to sleep, but his body was catching up with him, though his mind continued to barrage him with nightmares. The most recent of which wasn't so much frightening as it was heartbreaking.

In his dream, Beast Boy heard Robin's alarm go off, signaling that Jane had awakened. And yet, the shape shifter found he couldn't move. He struggled to move, to morph, to yell, but he was paralyzed. He watched helplessly in his bat form as all the other Titans ran past him down the hall. He tried, but he just couldn't…—suddenly he was in the infirmary, back in his human form, and everyone else was there too, but they weren't paying any attention to Jane. Beast Boy was about to push his way through the group but found he once again couldn't move. He could just barely see Jane over Robin's shoulder.

Suddenly, all of the machines around her started to beep in alarm, and Jane started to cry out and squirm as if in pain. Beast Boy tried to get to her, but still remained unable to move. He tried to yell out to his friends, shocked that they still acted as if Jane wasn't there, instead simply mulling about and talking to each other like everything was normal. Meanwhile, the machines' alarms got louder, faster, more urgent, yet the green boy was helpless. Try as he might, he couldn't move an inch or get a single syllable out of his mouth.

Then, Jane went still and quiet, and the machines let out one long, monotonous "beeeeep..." And suddenly it wasn't Jane lying in the bed, it was Terra; her blank, dead eyes focused accusingly on Beast Boy as one final tear rolled down her face…

"Terra!" Beast Boy yelled, morphing back to his human form as he awoke from his troubled sleep. Unfortunately, his human body wasn't nearly as adept at hanging upside down from door jambs as a bat, and he fell like a rock, landing square on his back. "D'oww…" he muttered, sitting up and rubbing his aching head, waiting for the dizziness (and remaining fear) to clear.

Then he remembered. "Jane!" he gasped, and got to his feet. He listened carefully for a moment at Robin's door, but heard nothing. No alarm, no snoring, not even breathing. Robin wasn't in his room. Did that mean he was in the infirmary? Had the alarm gone off while he was asleep? Listening more closely, Beast Boy couldn't hear any of his friends in their rooms. Maybe Jane had woken up, and everyone else was already with her (which was a scenario too close to that of his nightmare for comfort). Now he'd be the very last one to get to her!

Beast Boy growled in frustration, kicking himself for being stupid and falling asleep at such a crucial time. Without giving himself another second to think about it, he took off sprinting down the hall towards the elevator.

***Return to Normal/Sabbath's POV***

Sabbath sat on the bed next to her few remaining belongings and gazed out the window to her right as she thought over everything that had just happened. The newspaper article had surprised her; she found it difficult to believe the authorities hadn't laid %100 of the blame on her. Troubled, adopted teen with supernatural pyrokinetic abilities, plus massive house fire explosion, equaled incarceration and extermination of said teen. Right? Maybe the Millers had changed their minds. Maybe they'd told people it hadn't been her. That way, the police wouldn't come looking for her; no one would (Sabbath doubted runaways were frequently chased down in a city this size). She wasn't surprised the Millers didn't want her back. No one ever wanted her for too long. Hell, even her birth mother hadn't wanted her…

Sabbath reached up and quickly wiped the tears from her face. Even though she was alone, she didn't like to let herself get emotional over things that far in the past. And honestly, her mother hadn't voluntarily given up Sabbath and her sister; she'd simply died, or so the staff at the orphanage had told her. Regardless, Sabbath sometimes found herself blaming her birth mother. After all, if she were still alive, Sabbath and her sister never would've had to go through all the things they did. Sabbath knew it was irrational to think that way, but she couldn't help it._ 'But now's not the time to think about all that!' _she mentally scolded herself. She knew she had a lot more pressing problems she should be thinking about at the moment; namely, her recent loss of nearly all of her belongings, not to mention her loss of a home.

Sabbath turned her gaze away from the sunrise and focused her attention on the two bags lying beside her. The black leather guitar case didn't look too damaged from the fire, just a little dusty. Her purse, however, was another story. What used to be a pink and white Coach knock-off was now a singed, ash-smudged thing in various shades of black, brown, and grey. Sabbath wondered for a moment if anything inside it could possibly have survived. She reached out and placed it in her lap, realizing too late that she was probably getting ash all over who's ever pajamas she was wearing. Oh well.

After a brief fight with the zipper, Sabbath finally managed to pry open the purse. Inside, the first thing she saw was the cellphone the Millers had given her. She knew that was one thing she wouldn't be needing anymore. She raised her hand to hurl the phone across the room in a sudden burst of anger, but paused midway. Lowering her arm, she looked down at the device in her hand. Its familiar black, shiny surface stared back up at her, the small, chunky cross charm winking in the sunlight. It seemed like forever ago that the Millers had given this to her. She remembered how happy she'd been, and how it had represented that the Millers would always be there for her. Sabbath plucked up the cross charm between two fingers, remembering how they'd also said God would be there for her, too.

Suddenly, for reasons she couldn't explain, Sabbath untied the charm and placed it next to her on the bed. She couldn't bring herself to get rid of it. She herself had never found God to be all that helpful, but it was the thought that counted. And who knew, maybe God _had_ been listening all this time, but just never had anything to say in response. And, the more she thought about it, the more Sabbath started thinking maybe that was for the best; maybe she didn't need someone who'd talk back and criticize her; she just needed someone who'd listen. The Millers had had plenty to say, Sabbath remembered bitterly, though they hadn't listened to her at all. They hadn't let her get a single word out that night before they started flinging accusations in her face. Sabbath clenched her fist around the cellphone and hurled it against the far wall with all her strength. Thankfully, it didn't leave a mark on the slate-grey surface, although the cellphone itself clattered to the floor in three pieces.

'_Still not enough…'_ she thought, and with that she summoned a small fireball and hurled it at the cellphone's remains. The fireball went out in a tiny explosion on impact. Then, there were a few snaps and sparks, and a really awful smell, and that was it. Sabbath glared at the now charred remains from her seat on the bed across the room. Still not satisfied, she got up and retrieved the cellphone parts and walked towards the large window to her right. She flicked open the lock and then threw the window wide open, letting in a rush of cool, damp, salty air.

Sabbath paused. The smell in the air reminded her of happier times, though she couldn't explain why. Something about that ocean air was so relaxing, even though she hadn't been to the beach in a long, long time. The Collins had probably been the last ones to take her. Maybe that was it. The smell and feel of the beach triggered old memories that were too faded to be seen, and all that were left of them were the feelings.

Sabbath smiled as she looked out over the vast city. The glass and steel skyscrapers glittered pink and gold in the bright, early morning sun. Despite its size, the city was still mostly quiet at this hour, and all Sabbath could hear was the wind, a few seagulls waking up, and the ocean's waves lapping at the rocks surrounding the Tower's island. A sudden gust of air came in through the window, and Sabbath closed her eyes and sighed as the breeze filled the room, instantly cooling her temper.

Sabbath opened her eyes and again focused her attention on the cellphone remains clutched in her hand. The urge to furiously hurl the plastic pieces out the window was gone, but she still wanted rid of the phone and all it represented. So instead, she held up the pieces in the palm of her hand, and pulled some of the abundant moisture out of the air around her. Soon a fog appeared around her hand, hovering just above the charred plastic. She then created a small cushion of air to levitate the pieces into the fog. To her surprise, Sabbath found it was easy to condense the water around the chunks of cellphone. She was even able to control air and water at the same time with hardly any effort, which was really unusual.

Finally, when there was a good 5-inch sphere of water around the phone's remains, Sabbath condensed the water into solid ice and allowed the sphere to drop back into her hand. She was amazed. That had been a lot easier than it should have been; she hadn't even really been thinking about it. Sabbath briefly wondered if getting her anger out of the way had helped, but her attention was soon diverted back to the ball of ice in her hand as her skin started to burn from the cold. So, with only a fraction of the anger that had previously been coursing through her veins, Sabbath dropped the ice ball unceremoniously out the window, satisfied with the distant "splish!" it made when it hit the water below.

Then, with a sense of closure, Sabbath turned her back on the window and returned to her spot on the bed to continue looking through her belongings. Again, she sat cross-legged on the bed and pulled her purse into her lap. Inside she found her iPod (which thankfully still worked) and wallet (containing exactly $10.12. Fantastic). Suddenly, Sabbath noticed the one thing that was missing. Her communicator!

Panicking, she quickly dumped the rest of her purse's contents on the bed, desperate to find it. All she found, however, were a couple receipts, gum wrappers, and a lip gloss. Her communicator was gone! Had she left it in the house? Thinking back, Sabbath remembered that she never took it out of her purse, fearing the Millers would find it. Unfortunately, that only left one other possibility. With a sinking heart, Sabbath realized the Titans must have taken it back. Robin had seemed pretty upset about something. Maybe he didn't believe that she hadn't started the fire. Maybe none of the Titans did, maybe she'd lost their trust and this was their way of subtly kicking her off the team!

Sabbath clenched her hands into fists and tried not to cry. However, it seemed she'd finally run out of tears. All that came out were dry sobs as she attempted to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat. She simply sat there, fists clenched in her lap, and listened to the sounds of the soft ocean breeze and lonely seagulls as she buried herself deeper and deeper in self-pity. She wanted to be mad at the Titans for judging her so harshly, and without even listening to her side of the story. Sure, Robin had listened, but someone had taken her communicator before she'd even woken up, before she'd gotten to say a word. Regardless, she knew deep down that she couldn't blame them for making the obvious assumptions anyone else would make.

Unfortunately, life as a Titan had been her last resort. She'd never imagined something like this would happen. The familiar sting of rejection stabbed through her chest. _'If they were going to kick me off the team, why had they even bothered to take me in and help me in the first place? Why hadn't they just brought me to the nearest hospital and been done with it?'_ Sabbath wondered. _'It must've been that stupid newspaper article,'_ she decided. _'Robin must've read it and told the rest of the Titans how horrible I am…what a 'thing of evil' I am…'_

Sabbath wrapped her arms around herself as the pain continued to run rampant through her heart. _'And they couldn't even tell me? They just took the communicator, figuring I'd get the hint?!' _she thought, her pain turning to anger, and this time the calming sea breeze could do nothing for her temper. _'Well then to Hell with the Titans! Who needs them, anyway? If Dawn can run off and take care of herself, then so can I!'_

She stood up and started rifling through her guitar case in search of something to wear. But her anger soon turned to frustration as she started to realize that grabbing things blindly out of her clothes hamper hadn't exactly resulted in perfect outfits. She pulled out three socks, her hoodie, and three nightshirts. _'I didn't grab any pants?!'_ Sabbath mentally cried in frustration. _'Oh, wait-there's something else in here…'_ She then spotted something else stuffed further down in the case. Reaching in, she produced…_'Another shirt!'_ It was the black shirt with the pink skull, the one she'd bought that day in town before she went to meet the Titans. _'Whatever, at least it's a real shirt,'_ she thought to herself as she pulled off the pink nightgown and slipped into the t-shirt. Sabbath sighed; it felt good to be in her own clothes again, especially clothes that held happy memories. _'Wonder if I grabbed the skirt, too?' _

Peeking into the case one last time, she caught sight of something else shoved down towards the bottom; something pink. Giving up on just reaching blindly into the guitar case, Sabbath laid it on its back and unzipped it all the way, flinging the cover open. There, hidden under the guitar, was something made of pink and black plaid. Sabbath grinned as she pulled out the skirt, delighted to discover the pink and black striped tights partially wadded up under it as well. True, the clothes were technically dirty, but they were better than nothing.

She quickly pulled on the tights and skirt, happy to have saved most of the outfit. She thought back briefly to the day she'd bought it. She realized then that she'd never bought anything like that before; it definitely stood out form everything else in her wardrobe (before the fire, that is. She didn't exactly consider her few remaining articles of clothing a "wardrobe"). But she liked it. Somehow, she felt it suited her personality. Plus, the fond memories that were attached to it made it irreplaceable.

Picking up the borrowed nightgown off the floor, Sabbath noticed upon closer examination that someone had actually taken the time to cut two holes in the back of it to accommodate her wings. _'Starfire…'_ she suspected. It was a simple act of kindness, but it said a lot. If it weren't for the fact that they'd just kicked her off the team so heartlessly, Sabbath would've sworn the Titans had really grown to care about her; to accept her.

She sighed. _'Maybe they just feel bad for me,'_ Sabbath thought bitterly. _'Maybe everything they've done all this time has just been out of pity.'_ Her teeth ground together in anger as her temper flared up once again. _'Well I don't need their pity, or their help. I don't need them to believe me or accept me into their little team. I'll be a lot better off on my own!'_

Sabbath continued her mental ranting as she thrust her clothes and belongings back in her guitar case. Her purse was pretty shot, so she simply transferred its contents to the guitar case, leaving the charred purse on the bed with the nightgown. Finding her boots on the floor at the foot of the bed, she stepped into them and jerked the zippers shut. Yanking the guitar case's zipper shut, too, she added '_I'll just give that pointy-haired, egotistical little sidekick_ _a piece of my mind…or fist…and then I'm out of here!'_

Punching the button on the wall to open the door, Sabbath stormed out of the room, silently fuming as she stomped down the hall. Some part of her knew she was letting her temper get way out of control, but the rest of her didn't care. Her grip tightened on the guitar case's handle as her wings unconsciously clenched and unclenched with frustration, eager to take flight and leave the Tower and its inhabitants behind. Which she would, she promised herself, but first she was going to find Robin and tell him _exactly_ where he could put his fancy communicators.


	17. Chapter 16: Judgment

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 16

A/N: This is Chapter 16 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

PS. Attention Beast Boy lovers! Try looking up a band called 'Cipes and the People' on iTunes (or YouTube or wherever you get your music); you may recognize the lead singer as a certain green changeling… ; )

Also, this chapter may have a couple flaws, but I'm honestly sick of editing it. I want to move on with the story (as it is I'm late on the Halloween chapter). But I think for the most part it should be alright…

**Beast Boy's POV***

Jane wasn't in the infirmary. When Beast Boy had stumbled into the dark room, his heart skipped a beat. The machines were off, the computer screen was black, and all that remained in the bed was a rumpled blanket. For a split second, he feared the worst. Maybe the reason he hadn't woken up when Robin's alarm went off was because it never did because Jane never woke up?! His mind spiraled with possibilities. _'No,' _he ordered himself. _'You can't think like that. You just slept through the alarm and she's probably in the kitchen right now helping Cyborg make pancakes…'_ A brief flare of jealousy followed that last visual image, but Beast Boy ignored it as an even more important thought suddenly implanted itself in his mind. _'She's in the kitchen!'_ He was positive that's where she was; that's where she had to be.

Turning his back on the darkened infirmary, Beast Boy ran back to the elevator, repeatedly jabbing at the button until the doors opened, an increased sense of urgency coursing through his veins. It felt like the elevator was taking decades to reach the top floor of the Tower. He wished it would move faster. He couldn't explain why, but he had to see Jane for himself, had to know she was alright.

Finally, the elevator dinged, announcing its arrival to the top floor. Beast Boy dashed through the slowly opening doors, getting halfway down the hall before they even opened all the way. His pounding footsteps were muted on the hallway's thick carpet, and for a moment he felt as if the walls were stretching out before him, making his path to the main room endless. Yet he pushed on, one thought repeating itself in his head as he ran; _'Have to see her…have to see her…have to see her…'_

***Sabbath's POV***

Sabbath's temper pounded evenly in her chest as she stalked down the long hallway. Hidden under that, however, was confusion. How could the Titans seem to care for her so much, yet not trust her and kick her off the team at the same time? They always saved her, were always there when she needed them, and yet when they discovered something unpleasant about her (or rather, assumed something unpleasant. There was still no proof as to what started the fire. All clues pointed at her, but she couldn't remember doing it. All she could remember was that dream…throwing that star…but her dreams usually didn't escape into reality like that…), they turn their backs on her? It just didn't make sense, and that's what frustrated her the most.

As she continued down the hall, Sabbath finally spotted the intersection up ahead. She paused a moment to think. Remembering how she got here, she knew turning right would take her to the elevator and out of the Tower, but hadn't Robin said turning left would bring her to the main room? She suddenly felt torn. Should she leave the Tower without even looking back? Or should she go find Robin, get a few hurt feelings off her chest, and give him a piece of her mind first?

Sabbath sighed. She hated it when her temper fought with her brain. She knew it probably would've been easier to just leave, but she didn't want to deny herself the undoubted satisfaction and closure yelling at the Boy Wonder would bring. Finally, her heart won out. As Sabbath closed the distance between herself and the intersection, she made up her mind to have a talk with his royal masked-ness. _Then_ she would leave. _'Beside,'_ she thought to herself. _'Not like I have anything left to lose.'_

***Beast Boy's POV***

There, the intersection in the halls was just ahead! He was almost there! Beast Boy closed his eyes as he put all his effort into running faster, not even stopping to transform into a faster animal (which would've been the logical choice, but whoever said Beast Boy was logical? Especially when his heart was at the wheel…).

***Sabbath's POV***

_'Left it is,'_ Sabbath decided. As she reached the corner, her pace slowed as her mind began running through all the possible scenarios that would unfold once she found Robin. It was because of this distraction, however, that she didn't notice the movement to her right until it was too late.

A sudden flash of green caught her eye, and just as she turned her head, something gave a brief shout before crashing into her at full speed, knocking her to the ground, and following her down, landing squarely on top of her.

***Beast Boy's POV***

It was too late to stop. By the time Beast Boy had seen the dark figure turning the corner, he was already too close to stop in time. He didn't have time to really register who it was, but he was really hoping it wasn't Raven. He had a feeling she'd get mad about being run over first thing in the morning.

He tried his best to stop, but in doing so, he lost his balance and ended up not only knocking over the person he'd run into, but tripping and falling down right along with them! He did what he could to control his fall, but was only able to put his hands out at the last minute to avoid landing on the person's face. The rest of his weight landed on his knees. It stung, but all that mattered was that he hadn't squished the person under him.

When the dust cleared and he opened his eyes, Beast Boy looked down to see who his victim had been. He got the shock of his life when he looked down and saw Jane. However, his surprise quickly turned to embarrassment when he began to take in the details of the situation. He'd knocked her flat on her back, her hair and wings fanned out around her. His momentum must've carried him a tad further than he thought, because instead of being eye-to-eye with Jane, he found she was more eye level with his chest. This also led to his knees being on either side of her waist. His hands were on the floor on either side of her head, pinning her hair to the floor but thankfully just missing her wings. Beast Boy then noticed that Jane's hair was curly, like it had been the first night he'd called her on her communicator, when she'd just gotten out of the shower…Beast Boy felt his face turn red at the memory.

***Sabbath's POV***

"Uhn…" Sabbath mumbled, a spot on the back of her head beginning to throb, along with her elbows and back. She tried to move, but instantly found her hair was pinned to the floor, and trying to move just pulled it. She winced. Then, upon opening her eyes, discovered she was eye level with a purple-clad chest. Confused, Sabbath turned her gaze upward to find a seemingly dazed Beast Boy staring down at her. Well, that was different, _'though not entirely unpleasant,_' a voice in the back of her head commented, while Sabbath's rational side tried not to be mesmerized by the sharp shadows cast on his face, or how his hair slumped forward over his forehead just so, or how his intense yet distant green gaze was focused solely on her…To her horror, Sabbath suddenly realized there was actually a part of her mind was more than willing to simply lay there like an idiot and enjoy the view.

Quickly averting her gaze, Sabbath desperately tried to clear her mind, ignore her suddenly pounding heart, and round up details of what was going on. Clearly, Beast Boy had been running down the hallway, hadn't seen her, and crashed into her. He'd fallen on top of her, but seemed to have been able to break his fall at the last minute, leaving him on his hands and knees instead. Sabbath attempted to look down and instinctively check for injuries, but since she couldn't move her head, she had to make do with what she could feel. Along with her hair being caught, she felt her knees locked together and her skirt pinned to the floor on both sides. The only things she found she could move were her arms. Reaching back, Sabbath searched blindly for whatever was holding her hair. She assumed it was her guitar case, which was no longer in her hand.

"Um…Beast Boy?" she finally asked, realizing he still hadn't gotten up. Was he hurt? Her voice seemed to snap him out of his reverie, bringing him back to the present.

"Jane!" he exclaimed, a dark hint of color touching his cheeks. He sat up, abruptly clearing out of her personal space. "Um…you ok?"

Sabbath raised herself up on her elbows, ignoring the pounding in the back of her head. She looked at Beast Boy again. He was now sitting on her legs, but at least her hair was free. _'He must've been on it,' _she thought to herself. She waited a minute, wondering when he'd realize he still had her pretty much pinned to the floor. For a moment Sabbath felt overwhelmed by the expression on the changeling's face. A swirling mix of worry, embarrassment, and the apparently distracting need to get something off his chest overtook his green features in a way Sabbath couldn't help but find adorable. He still didn't move from his crouched position over her knees. Instead, he kept his dark eyes locked on hers, as if searching for a sign that would verify she was alright before he'd move.

'_No!'_ Sabbath mentally ordered herself. _'Weren't you just fuming over these people a minute ago? They don't trust you, remember? They booted you off the team without even listening to your side of the story! They're just a bunch of stuck-up, judgmental cowards!' _And with that, Sabbath made up her mind that the icy road was the best one in this situation, swearing to neither show emotions, nor be taken in by them.

"Like you would care," Sabbath finally replied, narrowing her gaze at the shape shifter.

Beast Boy seemed taken aback by the sudden venom in her words. He took that as his cue to get off of her. He scrambled to his feet and retreated a couple yards back from her as she stood up. He actually seemed afraid of what she might do next. He looked like he was about to say something, but she quickly cut him off.

"That's right, back away. After all, you never know when I might snap. I'm just a walking time-bomb, right? An evil monster to be feared by all. Who could trust a thing like me?!" she shot at him, repeating just a few of the many disparagements that had been flung her way over the years. Despite the earlier promise she'd made to herself, she now found she couldn't keep bitter anger from dripping from every word she said. Sabbath's face grew hot as emotions threatened to overflow. Her vision started to blur with unshed tears, yet she kept her angry gaze locked on Beast Boy.

"Woa, Jane," Beast Boy began softly, holding his hands up in a defensive gesture. He slowly took a step towards her as he continued, "What are you-?"

"Don't worry, you don't have to explain; I can take a hint! I'm leaving, alright?" Sabbath exclaimed, cutting him short once again. "As soon as I find that so-called 'leader' of yours and give him a piece of my mind, I'm gone. You'll never have to-"

"Jane!" Beast Boy shouted. Sabbath was stunned silent. Beast Boy had always seemed to be a peaceful sort of person, she didn't even know he _could_ yell.

***Beast Boy's POV***

What was going on? Beast Boy had been really confused when he'd bumped into Jane, and then sort of hypnotized by how surprisingly pretty she looked. Then, he'd been distracted by the thoughts that came to mind (as they would to any straight teenaged male) at the idea of a girl being pinned underneath him. But then she'd gotten so angry all of a sudden…he didn't know what to make of it. Had she noticed how he was staring at her? No, that couldn't be it. And now, as he looked at her, what had seconds ago been the face of an angel was suddenly spitting venomous accusations. Maybe she'd been mad before he'd bumped into her? He had no way of knowing, but that didn't matter right now. When she'd insulted Robin, it had suddenly been too much for the shape shifter to take. He didn't know what was wrong with Jane, but she had no reason to be mad at Robin of all people! Sure, Robin could be bossy sometimes, but Beast Boy still respected him both as a best friend and as a leader.

"Jane!" he finally shouted, no longer trying to be calm and understanding. That seemed to do the trick. He'd only said one word, but it was enough. Jane seemed thrown off by his sudden outburst. Her expression instantly changed from rolling anger to surprise. She'd raised her fists to her sides as she was yelling and hunched her back defensively, but now her posture relaxed, just a little.

"Jane," he continued in a slightly calmer tone, taking a couple more steps towards her. "Jane, what are you talking about? No one ever said you had to leave, and Robin's not-"

"Look, I'm not stupid," she cut in, her tone low and calm, though her words still revealed just as much pain. "I can take a hint. You guys don't want me on the team, that's fine. Whatever. Just don't try and act like you still care, alright? I've seen that act a hundred times, and it gets old really fast!" Jane's voice was starting to get louder again as she continued, and suddenly Beast Boy felt the air in the windowless hallway stir as an impossible gust of wind began to whip around the two teens. Jane didn't seem to notice, however. She kept right on talking. Only then did Beast Boy notice the foggy, grey glow starting to encompass her clenched fists. He then remembered experiencing something like this with Terra a long time ago. His mind flashed back to the time in the diamond mine, when he'd found Terra overwhelmed by her own power. She'd almost taken down the whole mine…

Snapping himself back to the present, Beast Boy looked at Jane. The wind storm continued, slowly getting stronger as the glow around Jane's raised fists grew brighter. And still she took no notice as she continued to yell, though now there were tears running down her face as well. Beast Boy's eyes grew wide. Suddenly, he ran towards her, closing the remaining space between them and wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace.

***Sabbath's POV***

Sabbath knew her emotions were escaping, revealing themselves in the form of unrestrained power; she could feel it. She felt the flow of energy seeping through, felt her skirt and hair whipping around her in the gale, but she didn't care. Now that she'd opened her mouth to finally say how she was feeling, she found she couldn't stop, and her feelings were all she could think about. There was more anger and pain inside of her than she'd thought, more than she could even express in words, and now it was all coming out full-force at poor Beast Boy. True, he and the other Titans had been cruel to just give her the boot, but that didn't mean Beast Boy was responsible for all the pain and bitterness she'd kept locked inside since she'd been taken from the Collins. She knew this, but yet her mouth continued to shout at the changeling. She'd tried to hold it back, but instead her excess emotions had exploded out through her powers, and a miniature wind storm now filled the hallway.

For one fearful moment, Sabbath wondered if she was about to lose control; if soon an incredible tsunami of power would take over her body and mind, leaving her helpless to her own abilities. But no, she decided that's not what this was. She'd only lost control of her powers once or twice before, but she knew it felt ten times stronger than this. Plus, she knew she must still have control over her mind if she was still hurling all her hurt feelings at Beast Boy. Sabbath decided she could stop if she wanted to; she could just turn around, pick up her guitar case, and walk away. But she also realized that she didn't want to. She wanted – no, she _needed_ to get these feelings out. If Beast Boy just happened to be the recipient, then so be it.

But she hadn't expected him to hug her like that. She thought he'd eventually run off screaming for help, or maybe just punch her in the face and knock her out. But instead, he did the bravest thing she could ever imagine anyone doing in a situation like that (Sabbath knew how scary she could be. If peaceful Dawn's lapses in control had been scary, Sabbath knew she herself must've looked terrifying, even if she hadn't entirely lost control); he simply walked right up to her and wrapped her in one of the tightest hugs she'd ever received, wings and all.

"Jane," Beast Boy whispered in her ear, barely audible over the angry breeze, "I'm sorry. But you got it all wrong! We want you to stay here, with us!"

The wind slowly started to die down as Beast Boy's embrace forced Sabbath to lower her surely-glowing fists and the truth in his words started to get through to her. All she could do was stand there, her glazed eyes staring blankly over Beast Boy's right shoulder at the grey wall behind him. Sabbath was shocked at herself, and how all it had taken was a simple embrace from the green boy to quell her temper. She couldn't help but suspect that it wasn't the hug, but the boy giving it that held such power. Finally, she was able to mutter, "But…you took the communicator…and no one believes me about the fire…"

Beast Boy hugged Jane a little tighter, resting his chin on her left shoulder and partially burying his face in her hair as he replied softly, "We took the communicator so we could give it to you properly when you woke up; we want you to be an official, full-time Titan. It was supposed to be a surprise. And I don't know what anyone else thinks, but _I know_ you didn't start that fire."

Sabbath's wings relaxed against Beast Boy's arms and her fists dropped to her sides as her whole body went limp with exhausted relief. She felt herself lean against the shape shifter for support, but he didn't seem to notice a bit. She turned her face away from him and rested her cheek on his shoulder. "…How do you know?" she asked quietly, wondering how he could sound so sure when Robin had seemed just the opposite a little while ago, and she hadn't even told Beast Boy anything!

She felt him smile before pulling away from her, breaking the warm embrace Sabbath had just been getting used to. He beamed cheerfully at her as he replied, "Call it animal instinct." Then, with a wink, he turned into a familiar green dog.

Sabbath smiled at the corny pun, and the dog barked enthusiastically at her reaction. Suddenly, the dog turned away from her, galloped a few feet down the hall, then turned back and barked at her again. It took Sabbath a second to connect the dots, but finally she got the idea; he was showing her the way to the main room where the rest of the Titans were probably waiting. Sabbath was glad Beast Boy had decided to lead the way, since by now she was completely turned around. _'All these hallways look the same…'_ she thought absently, looking around and realizing the truly had no idea which way she'd come.

A few feet down the hall, the dog sat wagging itcollision before dashing down the hall after the green case from where it had landed after the teens'aiting.s, but fins tail, waiting for Sabbath. When she didn't follow suit, it barked again, though seeming more playful than demanding. "Alright, alright, I'm coming!" she replied, grinning. The dog seemed to smile as it stood up, tongue hanging out, ready to race her down the hall. Sabbath took the hint and quickly bent to retrieve her guitar case before dashing full-speed after the green dog.

***Raven's POV***

Shortly after Cyborg and Starfire came into the kitchen, Robin had miraculously managed to settle them down enough to call a meeting. Sometimes Raven found it amazing how easily the boy could gain control of a group so easily. He seemed to have a natural ability to make people _listen._ It was a characteristic Raven envied.

"Alright team, settle down," Robin said, making a calming gesture with his hands. "There's something I think we need to talk about."

The Titans quickly gathered around the breakfast bar, their full attention now focused on their leader.

"Should we not wait until Beast Boy is with us?" Starfire asked.

"No," he replied. "This is important."

Raven sensed Beast Boy finally wake up down the hall and rush to the elevator. He seemed upset about something. Raven assumed he was going to check on Jane. She vaguely wondered how long it would take him to find her.

"Is it about Jane?" Cyborg asked, seeming to be one of the first to catch on.

Robin replied with a serious expression and nod, his answer verified loud and clear.

"Has she awakened?" Starfire asked, her voice filled with hope and excitement.

"She did, and I had a chance to talk to her. Apparently, her house burned down…" Robin hinted. "The authorities are still investigating the cause. It seems Jane ran away from the paramedics that night, and now no one knows where she is."

At first, Cyborg and Starfire seemed worried when Robin had mentioned the fire, but Raven sensed their minds slowly piecing the facts together. Cyborg was the first to come to the same conclusion as Robin had, while Starfire didn't seem to want to believe it. Then, when Robin mentioned the girl was a runaway, their worry turned to a murky discomfort at the realization that they would probably have to turn Jane in.

"However, no one's reported her missing. Her parents don't seem worried that she's gone. According to Jane, they blamed her for the fire, even though she claims to have saved them."

Raven of course wasn't surprised, since she'd already heard this from Robin earlier that morning. But she could tell her friends were quickly becoming confused.

"But…why wouldn't her parents file a missing persons report if their daughter's been missing for over three days?" Cyborg asked. Raven sensed Starfire wanted to ask the same question.

"Exactly," Robin replied. "But that's not all. After we first met Jane, I did a background check on her. Nothing came up. Apparently, Jane Hellingsworth doesn't exist."

Raven watched as Cyborg's thoughts turned form confused to suspicious, while Starfire's remained doubtful.

"Perhaps your search was incorrect," the alien girl offered, sounding unsure. "We know Jane is real, she has been here with us for days…"

"Or maybe that's not really her name," Cyborg filled in.

"But…why would Jane lie to us?" Starfire asked, incredulous.

"That's the question," Robin replied. "She must be hiding something big."

Raven watched her friends silently process their leader's last statement. She decided now was a good time to voice her opinion, before this turned into a witch hunt. "Does lying about her name really mean she's evil?" Raven asked quietly. She wasn't exactly defending the girl, but she didn't want her friends to jump to any conclusions just yet. She felt there was still had a lot to learn about Jane. "I mean, Garfield's been calling himself Beast Boy for how many years now?"

Raven could feel her friends' confusion building into mixed feelings.

"I refuse to believe Jane would deceive us. Are we not her friends?" Starfire began. "Perhaps… we should ask her about this. Yes, let us hear what Jane has to say. Only then may we know for certain!"

"But, Starfire-"

"Star's right, y'all," Cyborg commented, cutting Robin off. "Rob, I get what you're sayin', man, but something doesn't feel right here. Let's just see what Jane has to say first."

"But I already talked to her…" Robin said. Raven sensed a tense frustration building inside of him.

"Maybe she wasn't really herself yet," Cyborg replied, his confidence building.

Raven could tell Cyborg was reluctant to write Jane off as evil just yet. He would wait until he spoke to Jane himself before he made any decisions. It seemed her friends were putting more faith in Jane than she probably deserved.

As the conversation continued, Raven suddenly sensed strong, negative emotional power coming from somewhere in the hallway. Beast Boy was back on the main floor, and Jane was out of her room now. Raven could feel Beast Boy's joy at seeing the girl again, though as the darkness grew, so too did his fear. She knew the power was coming from Jane.

Looking around at the rest of her friends, Raven realized she was the only one who was picking up on the psychic power surge; the other Titans were carrying on with their debate as if nothing were happening. It wasn't something audible, as it was too far down the hall, nor was it detectable with any of the other five senses. But with her sixth sense, Raven was definitely picking up some kind of buildup, a dam that was about to give, all the while accompanied by Beast Boy's escalating fear and confusion.

For a moment, Raven almost felt something like worry for the shape shifter. She was sure he could take care of himself, but she didn't know what Jane was capable of. The girl already had a loose control over her powers as it was, and if she were to lose it…

Raven was about to alert her friends to what was going on, when suddenly it stopped. She felt a swell of uncharacteristic compassion from Beast Boy, and just like that the power began to recede. She sensed Jane's shock, followed by…relief? _'Weird,'_ Raven thought. She didn't want to know the details of what had just happened between those two, but at least Jane's powers were once again under control.

She decided to keep this to herself for the moment and stored it in the back of her mind to think about later, along with that vision from Robin of Jane's bandaged arms.

"-ven?"

"?!" Raven quickly snapped back to the group discussion. Robin had just asked her a question, but she'd been too focused on Jane and Beast Boy to hear it. The other Titans were looking at her expectantly, too. She mentally cursed.

"Everything alright…?" Robin asked, giving her a concerned look.

"Fine," she replied flatly, not wanting to let on about what had almost just happened out in the hall. She decided it was best to act like everything was normal. But what had he asked her? "What were you saying?"

"What do you think about Jane joining the team?" he replied.

Oh. "I think she still has a lot to learn," Raven said, thinking fast, and taking Jane's little power surge into account as she chose her words. "But…what would happen to her if we turned her away? She's better off staying with us where she can learn how to better manage her powers." Then silently she thought to herself, _'Who knows what kind of tantrum she'd unleash if we kicked her out. It's safer for everyone if she stays where we can keep an eye on her…'_

"Raven is correct," Starfire commented. "Jane must reside with us!"

"Maybe we _could_ try and teach her to be less…reckless with her powers," Robin replied thoughtfully.

Raven could tell he didn't totally trust Jane, but he was starting to realize the idea of keeping her here meant he could learn more about her, figure out what she was hiding.

"Yeah, plus I doubt the girl has anywhere else to go…" Cyborg replied.

Raven sensed him thinking back to the past; a guilty memory, probably the day they'd found her in Cyborg's net, bruised and unconscious on a minivan. He still didn't feel right about it, even if she hadn't really been injured. Cyborg had the kind of heart that would always feel responsible and guilty and never let him fully make up for his mistakes.

"But I say we fireproof her room, just in case!" the robot boy added, covering his dark guilt and attempting to lighten the mood with a smile and a joke.

Raven grimaced at how uncomfortable his joke made the rest of the Titans, as they all realized it was a better suggestion than anyone would like to admit.

Cyborg seemed to pick up on how gauche his last statement had come across. "Never mind…" he muttered, his grin fading.

Just as an awkward silence began to fill the air, the door to the main room suddenly whooshed open and in rushed a canine Beast Boy followed by a smiling Jane. Their auras were both shining with pure, brilliant bliss. To Raven their emotions were so bright she almost squinted. It occurred to her then that she didn't detect any malicious or deceitful intent in Jane, the girl seemed just plain happy to be with Beast Boy, who seemed equally ecstatic. Raven was relieved. She didn't particularly like Beast Boy, rather she found him immature and obnoxiously cheerful. And kind of stupid. But she knew he had a heart of gold. Terra had nearly destroyed him, yet somehow he seemed to have healed over time. Raven was determined to not let anyone hurt him like that again. For Beast Boy's sake, she hoped Jane was as honest and innocent as she claimed to be.

The two slightly out of breath teens stopped just inside the room as the door slid shut behind them. Beast Boy morphed back to his human form and turned to Jane, pretending to be some kind of macho athlete, flexing his nonexistent muscles and gloating about his victory in their apparent race. Jane stuck her tongue out at him in mock anger before dissolving into giggles.

Beast Boy then turned to face the kitchen and seemed surprised to see the rest of the Titans sitting there, staring in his direction. A little embarrassed, too. However, the green changeling seemed oblivious to the uncomfortable aura emanating from the rest of the team. He started to head towards the kitchen with a cheerful, energetic smile as he asked, "Alright, who wants tof-!"

He was cut off mid-sentence when a loud alarm blasted through the room just then, accompanied by a flashing red light. Raven didn't flinch, nor did the other Titans. It was a noise they were used to. But she noticed Jane jump and look around, concerned. The poor girl even let the guitar case fall from her grip. It clunked to the floor, forgotten.

"Trouble!" Robin announced, though it was unnecessary. It wasn't as if that alarm ever went off for any other reason. The Boy Wonder was the first to bolt out of his chair and run to the nearest computer monitor. After a few seconds of tapping at the keyboard and examining the screen, he turned back to the Titans. "Mumbo broke into a bank vault downtown. Titans, GO!" And without further explanation he took off running out the door.

Raven mentally sighed; Mumbo was such a pest. Him and his fake magic and trite stage tricks were so obnoxious. Regardless, she followed the rest of the team and flew towards the door. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Jane awkwardly standing off to the side and she sensed the girl's uncertainty as whether to go with them or not. Maybe she'd overheard the Team debating whether or not to let her stay? Raven wasn't sure, all she could sense were the numerous, indecipherable questions swirling around in the girl's mind. Not that it was any of her business. Without even pausing, Raven continued out the door. The last thing she saw before she entered the hallway was Beast Boy turning back and grabbing Jane's arm (which, she noticed, was bandaged from her elbows to her wrists just as she'd seen in her vision from Robin), and tugging her with him towards the door. The girl instantly flinched her arm out of the changeling's grip, and instead put her hand in his. At first Raven assumed the girl had been burned in the fire, but the fact that Robin had seemed so troubled by her arms made her wonder if something worse might be hidden under those bandages…


	18. Chapter 17: How To Take Down a Mumbo

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 17 

A/N: This is Chapter 17 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

PS. You may be wondering how Cyborg and Robin can drive across the ocean to get to the mainland. My answer: there's a secret, metal bridge hidden in the ocean floor. Through remote control, it raises up out of the water in sections and collapses again a few minutes later. SO. THERE.

* * *

><p>***Sabbath's POV***<p>

Suddenly, the main room of Titans Tower was awash in red, flashing lights and a loud alarm wailed from unseen speakers. Sabbath jumped, thinking it was a fire alarm. In a panic, she wondered for a minute if she'd done something to set it off. But no, she assured herself, she was just standing there. It had to be something else. Right?

"Trouble!" Robin shouted, running across the room to some kind of computer. Maps and blocks of text flashed across the screen as the boy wonder tapped furiously at the keyboard. Then he added, "Looks like Mumbo broke into a bank vault downtown. Titans, GO!" And without another word he turned and ran for the door.

_ 'What's a 'mumbo?'' _Sabbath wondered. The rest of the Titans seemed to understand, however, as they wasted no time in racing towards the door after their leader. _'Must be some kind of bad guy,'_ she realized. _'I wonder…should I go with them?'_ She remembered what Beast Boy had said in the hall, how the team had planned to have her stay with them as an official Titan, but she still wasn't sure, especially after how Robin had acted. Maybe they had originally planned to have her stay, but after hearing her story, Robin had changed his mind? She had no way of knowing.

Instead of following the Titans, Sabbath stood awkwardly off to the side, keeping out of the way while she wrestled with indecision. She watched the Titans swarm out the door, none looking back to see if she was following. Cyborg stopped for a moment by the door, and at first Sabbath thought he was going to turn around and say something to her, but he merely punched in a quick code into a number pad by the door. The alarm and red lights cut off, and the robot boy quickly continued out the door after his friends.

_ 'Maybe I should just leave,'_ she thought as Beast Boy ran past her. She couldn't explain why, but watching him go by without a second look sent a sharp pain stabbing through her chest.

Suddenly, as if sensing Sabbath's hurt feelings, Beast Boy stopped in his tracks and spun around to face her. The rest of the Titans were probably at the elevator by now, so the green boy wasted no time with words. He simply reached out, grabbed Sabbath's arm, and pulled her with him down the hall, smiling.

In place of the warmth that should've flooded her heart at the changeling's simple gesture, instinctive panic and fear flashed through her like lightning. He had no way of knowing it, but Beast Boy had grabbed her forearm and wrapped his gloved hand directly around the handprint mark hidden beneath a thin layer of gauze; the sensation all too much like those in her nightmares. Sabbath froze and automatically flinched her arm out of the boy's grip. His smile faltered, and he looked confused and almost hurt at her sudden coldness. It took Sabbath a second to realize how her actions had probably come across, and she mentally cursed. Forcing what she hoped resembled a genuine smile onto her face, she quickly took hold of Beast Boy's still outstretched hand, laced her fingers through his, and began to jog down the hallway. The changeling looked relieved and loped alongside her towards the elevator.

Once the elevator car emerged into the basement level garage of the tower, the Titans split up into teams without a word. Robin hopped onto a nearby red motorcycle and yanked a helmet over his head, while Starfire floated down to sit on the seat behind him and did the same. At the same time, Cyborg slipped behind the wheel of the blue and white car and Raven took shotgun. Sabbath started heading towards the car, when Beast Boy gently tugged her back, still not having let go of her hand. She shot him a questioning glance, to which he replied, "Let's fly!" Sabbath didn't get a chance to argue. The garage was suddenly filled with the sound of revving engines, yet over the noise Sabbath could just make out Robin's voice coming from the communicator Beast Boy was now holding in his free hand. "Alright, Team, let's split up. Mumbo loves a good chase. Cyborg and Raven, come in from the West. Starfire and I will circle around to the other side. Beast Boy and Jane, keep an eye on him from above. Titans, GO!"

Suddenly, as if on cue, the garage door slid open and the two vehicles raced out in a flash. Beast Boy pulled his hand from Sabbath's grip and quickly thrust his communicator into her hands. Then, without a word, he took a running start towards the door before transforming in to an eagle and taking flight. He was already well out the door when Sabbath finally protested "But it's broad daylight! I really don't like to -" she was cut off then by a low rumbling sound that echoed through the garage. To her dismay, the garage door was slowly beginning to slide shut. Sabbath muttered a curse before charging out into the early morning sun. She'd barely taken three steps outside when she heard the door come to a solid, crunching close in the sandy ground. The green eagle gave her one last look before turning around and taking off towards the city. In the distance she could just make out Robin's motorcycle and Cyborg's car. Sabbath clenched her fists. It was as if he just assumed she'd follow! Although at this point, she really had no other choice than to do just that. Grumbling, she flexed her wings a few times and clipped Beast Boy's communicator onto the waistband of her skirt before making a somewhat clumsy takeoff, kicking up sand and dust in her wake. "Dammit, wait for me!" she shouted at last as she hurried to catch up with the quickly retreating green eagle. Finally, when she was within arms' length of the bird, she childishly demanded, "Why didn't you wait for me? And you know I don't like flying during the day…" Of course, the eagle didn't respond, but if birds could look smug, Sabbath was sure that's what this one was doing.

The two of them flew together in a comfortable silence as they caught up with the rest of the Team. They flew well above the buildings, but kept visual contact with the two Titan vehicles. The view of the city was amazing, and Sabbath couldn't help but stare. She'd never seen the city like this before, at least not during the day. However, she found it hard to enjoy it when she kept glancing down reflexively; searching the ground below for anyone with an aimed projectile or accusing point. But after a while, she began to relax. Sabbath had to admit, the weather was perfect for an early morning flight. There was a cool breeze coming in off the ocean, pleasantly combating the strong warmth of the sun. She sighed, allowing the wind to carry her as she enjoyed the sensation of flight. The sun on her wings and back felt good, and she didn't even mind the wind blowing locks of dreadfully curly hair across her face. Looking down, she could see shops opening up on the streets below, with a few early morning bargain hunters already making their rounds as the city began to come alive. An old man opening up his convenience store nudged a wedge under the door before stopping to skim through the shelf of daily newspapers. Down the street a ways, a woman walked out of a familiar coffee shop with a small girl in tow. The mother was somehow juggling a coffee cup, purse, cellphone, and her daughter's small backpack perfectly, while the little girl skipped along behind her, eating something jelly-filled. As Sabbath's shadow grazed the ground next to the girl, she looked up and pointed. Sabbath flinched as the child got her mother's attention and pointed up at the sky. But, much to Sabbath's surprise, the woman just glanced up, smiled, and went back to her cellphone conversation. The girl smiled, too, and waved cheerfully up at Sabbath and her green avian companion. Beast Boy let out an obligatory screech, and Sabbath waved back. The girl then hurried to catch up with her mother and undoubtedly told her all about what she'd just seen (though her mother had just seen it, too. It's amazing how little kids will treat the smallest, most widely-known occurrences as breaking news).

Then, at the far end of the street, Sabbath spotted a large truck stopping in front of an all-too-familiar joke and costume shop. When the driver got out to unload the delivery, he was met up with the garish, grinning shop owner, who actually helped him carry boxes into the store. Sabbath was amazed how such a big city managed to have pockets of small-town charm _'Y'know…'_ she thought to herself with the beginnings of a smile, _'this really is a nice town.'_

Suddenly, a green, screeching blur dashed under Sabbath, cutting straight through her line of vision and diverting her attention from the street. The Beast Boy eagle was screeching in her direction and flying around her frantically. When she finally looked up, she realized she was on a direct collision course with the peak of the clock tower. She didn't even have time to curse. Between flailing, kicking, and a lot of excess wing-flapping, she just barely managed to get enough altitude to clear it. She felt the cold metal point pass by just inches from her stomach. The clock tower was a tall, square structure with a high, pointed peak, and Sabbath had almost crashed right into the sharpest part of it. It wouldn't have killed her, but it would've hurt, and most likely ripped her clothes, not to mention the embarrassment. What kind of superhero crashes into buildings?

She sighed and turned her attention to Beast Boy. "Thanks, I owe you one," she said with a greatful smile. "Guess I wasn't paying attention."

***Beast Boy's POV***

He couldn't believe Jane had almost crashed into the clock. He'd noticed she was flying lower and lower as she stared at the street, but he'd assumed she knew what she was doing. Apparently not.

"Thanks, I owe you one," she said. "Guess I wasn't paying attention."

Maybe she really couldn't fly that well? No, he'd seen her fly before and she did fine. Though he'd never gotten to fly with her before, and he had to admit he liked it. It was too quiet, though, and it was killing him to not be able to talk, but it was probably for the best. After looking at her smiling in the morning sun as she gazed down at the city, her hair floating in the wind, he doubted he could've formed a decent sentence.

Beast Boy had always loved seeing the city at this time of day (on those rare occasions he was awake before noon), and he just knew Jane would love it, too. That was why he wanted to fly with her, not because he knew Robin would say so. He hoped that, buy showing Jane what the town looked like in the early morning sun, she'd fall in love with it just like he had, and wouldn't be afraid of it anymore. He still couldn't understand why she didn't like to fly during the day. Star and Raven didn't have a problem with it, and Raven was creepier than Jane any day. No one ever shot her down, or even dared to try. Why would they?

***Sabbath's POV***

"Target sighted!" Robin's voice suddenly crackled from the communicator at Sabbath's waist. Sure enough, when she looked down, she could make out a grey-haired figure in a cheesy tuxedo running across the street and carrying a huge sack over his shoulder.

_ "Are we seriously chasing an old man…?" _Sabbath wondered.

"Cyborg! You and Raven cut him off, Starfire and I will come up behind him. Beast Boy and Jane, keep an eye on him! Titans, GO!"

Sabbath wasn't sure what to say, or if Robin could even hear her reply if she voiced one, so she remained silent. Beast Boy cawed in agreement anyway. Down below, Sabbath saw Cyborg's blue and white car speed up, passing the thief and turning sharply to create a road block. The thief scrambled to a halt, and Sabbath thought she heard Cyborg yell something to him, though she couldn't make it out. The thief turned to run, but was stopped by the sudden appearance of Robin's red motorcycle. Cyborg leaned out his car window, aiming a canon (_'Didn't_ _that used to be his arm…?'_) at the grey-haired man. Robin had several curved boomerangs poised between his fingers. Starfire hovered just above the motorcycle, a green ball of energy flickering around each fist. Raven seemed to be floating up through the sunroof of the blue and white car, eyes aglow with dark magic (_'Except…Cyborg's car doesn't have a sunroof…'_). It seemed to Sabbath there was some kind of standoff going on, all four Titans daring the thief to make a move. Even if the man didn't notice Sabbath and Beast Boy closing in from above, his odds were still bad at four-to-one. Yet surprisingly, he let out some quick joke about not having time for an encore, added an insane cackle, and took off at a ridiculously fast pace down a nearby alley, somehow managing to dodge the attacks of all four Titans.

Sabbath was amazed, both at the man's agility for his age, as well as how daring it was for him to try and escape. She watched, still stunned, as the two Titan vehicles scrambled to get out of each other's way and tried to follow the criminal down the narrow alley. Cyborg's car was the first one down there, and Raven remained half-way out of the car, levitating obstacles out of the way. Robin's motorcycle was close behind them, with Starfire shooting down any stray trash or debris that was thrown their way.

The alleyway seemed to go on forever, a number of twists and turns going every which way. Sabbath and Beast Boy flew across the rooftops, cutting over corners in a desperate attempt to keep up with the crazed senior citizen. Suddenly, the thief stopped in his tracks, forcing Cyborg and Robin to slam on the brakes. Sabbath and Beast Boy paused, touching down on opposing rooftops.

"Give it up, my man! The gig's up!" Cyborg shouted out his window.

"Oh, but the show _must_ go on!" the thief replied, spinning around to face the Titans. Then, to Sabbath's amazement, he actually pulled out what looked like a magician's wand and waved it at the T-Car, shouting "_Alackazam!"_

_ 'You've got to be kidding me…like he really think's that'll-'_

There was a sudden puff of yellow smoke, and when it cleared Sabbath's mouth literally hung open in shock. Where the wheels on Cyborg's car had just been, there were now arms. Simple, cartoonish arms that ended in gloved, Disney-like hands.

"My car!" Cyborg cried in horror. "What did you do to my car?!"

Then, completely of its own accord, the T-Car stretched its arms, stepped over Robin's motorcycle, and shakily stalked away back down the alley. Cyborg's cries of protest could be heard well after the car turned the corner, as could Raven's attempts to get Cyborg out of the car.

The thief laughed hysterically before turning back around and continuing to sprint off. Robin growled in frustration and revved the bike's engine, ordering Starfire to hold on tight as he sped off after the thief. Beast Boy gave out a screech as he once again took flight in pursuit of the criminal, and Sabbath was close behind him.

After a few more turns through the maze of alleys and backstreets, it looked like Robin and Starfire were closing in on the thief.

"Souvenirs for my adoring fans…" the thief called over his shoulder. Then, as Robin's motorcycle was closing in on him, the man removed his top hat and from it came a flood of rabbits. White, stuffed rabbits. Out of his hat.

_ 'Am I crazy…?'_ Sabbath began to wonder.

Starfire did her best to zap the oncoming swarm, and Robin did his best to dodge, but they were soon forced to stop as the rabbits piled over a story high, blocking off the alley and nearly burying the two teens.

Sabbath and Beast Boy paused and began to turn back, each wondering if they should help out the buried Titans. They began to descend into the alley when Robin's angry voice crackled over Beast Boy's communicator. "We're alright! We'll catch up. Don't let Mumbo get away!"

Sabbath turned her gaze to Beast Boy, who leveled his dark green eyes at her. The two hovered in mid-air for a moment before Beast Boy let out a screech of consent and took off after the thief. Sabbath just shrugged and followed him, the two returning to the rooftops to locate the old man.

"There he is!" Sabbath shouted, pointing down into a near-by alley. The grey-haired man had stopped running, probably thinking he'd lost the Titans. He sat crouching behind a dumpster, grinning as he pawed through his loot. Unfortunately, Sabbath's yelling had drawn the man's attention. He looked up, and in an annoyed tone said, "Hmph! There's just no hiding from the paparazzi these days!"

Sabbath and Beast Boy touched down in the alley a few feet from where the thief now stood. Beast Boy morphed back into his human form as he landed and demanded, "Let it go, Mumbo! We've got you and you're coming with us!" Sabbath was surprised at his uncharacteristic assertiveness.

"Not today, Titans!" he cackled in response. Then, without another word, he took off running at a speed Sabbath had only thought possible in cartoons.

Beast Boy transformed into a lion and took off after him. Sabbath flicked out her wings and flew as fast as she could to keep up.

"Abracadabra!" the thief –_Mumbo _– said_, _again waving his magic wand over his shoulder. Sabbath knew enough to be afraid this time. She flinched, expecting to grow extra limbs or something equally horrible. When she opened her eyes, much to her relief, she was fine. She looked over to Beast Boy to see what had happened to him, and saw that he, too, was still in one piece. She sighed. Then she noticed the two huge glove-hands that had appeared in mid-air in front of the green lion. One held a whip, and the other held a chair with its legs pointed defensively at Beast Boy. The gloves floated, snapping the whip and shoving the chair in Beast Boy's face, preventing him from going any further down the alley. However he moved or dodged, the gloves were there to block him. He growled in frustration and transformed into a hummingbird in an attempt to fly around the gloves, but still they followed him. This time, one grabbed him as the other snapped its fingers, making a bird cage appear in place of the whip and chair. The first hand threw the green changeling into the cage and the other slammed the door.

'…_What the-?'_

Then, as quickly as they appeared, the gloves disappeared into thin air, leaving the bird cage to clank to the ground. The Beast Boy bird flapped angrily against the bars of his cage, morphing into a number of animals, desperately trying to break out. But no matter what shape he took on, no matter what kind of massive animal he became, the cage grew and shrunk right along with him, almost mocking the shape shifter.

Finally, Beast Boy resumed his human form, grasping the bars of his cage tightly and rattling them with all his strength. Still the door on the cage wouldn't budge.

"Beast Boy!" Sabbath cried out, turning to run towards the imprisoned Titan. "Stand back!" she said as she summoned thin, blue, pointed flames to her fingertips, preparing to cut through the cage.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine," Beast Boy said, reaching an arm through the bars of his cage to lower Sabbath's poised hand. "I'll catch up!" he assured her with a smile. "Just don't let Mumbo get away; Robin's mood wicked goes down the crapper when the bad guys get away and he's a total buzz kill for days."

Sabbath frowned. She hated the idea of leaving Beast Boy in a cage, but she also knew she had to prove to Robin that she could be helpful. She knew the boy wonder was doubting her.

"Fine," she said sullenly. She extinguished the blue flame and turned to chase after the crazed magician when, once again, Beast Boy reached out and grabbed her hand.

"Remember," he said in a quiet, serious tone, "he's not a monster…"

Sabbath nodded in silent agreement, knowing full well what he meant. With a grin she replied, "Don't worry, I'll have the old geezer back in his room in time for breakfast!" Then without another word, she turned away from the green boy and took flight at full speed down the alley in search of the loony thief.

Minutes later, after turning several corners and finding a few dead ends, she finally located the grey-haired magician. He was still well ahead of her, and still running full speed. Because her flying didn't make as much noise as his pounding footsteps, she was able to sneak up behind him unnoticed. Finally, when she was just a short distance away from him, Sabbath stopped and touched down in the garbage-littered alley. She closed her eyes and pictured the scene in front of her. In her mind, she saw the filthy alleyway, the web of power cables and clothes lines stretching back and forth overhead. She saw the grey-haired, magical thief in his tacky tux sprinting down the straight alleyway ahead of her. Then, she pictured a huge wall of flames erupting up out of the ground, shooting three stories into the air, completely cutting off the man's path just feet in front of him. She was careful to remember not to hurt him or allow anything in the alley to actually catch fire (especially the power cables).

Finally, after several seconds, Sabbath was rewarded with a satisfying "WHOOSH!" followed by startled cries. She opened her eyes to see Mumbo screeching to a halt, his arms pin wheeling to keep his balance. He dropped his bag of stolen goods and just stood there, seemingly frozen in shock as he stared up at the wall of fire. Sabbath took that moment to sneak up behind him.

"Looks like I've got you!" she said, raising her voice to be heard over the roar of the flames as she approached the stunned man. She raised a second wall of fire behind her, sealing off any means of escape.

He stared with his mouth agape for a moment more before slowly turning around. Sabbath grinned when she saw the look on his face, it was like he'd seen a ghost. Then, he shook his head, cleared the alarmed expression off his face, and allowed a snide smirk to replace it. With lightning fast speed, he rushed at Sabbath, who was too surprised at his sudden reaction to block or dodge him.

He shoved her against the brick wall of the building behind her, curling one hand menacingly around her throat. Sabbath gasped as her back and wings hit rough stone, her left elbow grazing the corner of a flowerbox on a nearby window. She hadn't expected the man to do anything like this; she'd thought he'd be too scared to do anything but pee himself. She also hadn't imagined an old man could be so strong.

The thief leaned his masked face close to hers, nearly poking her eye out with his ridiculously large nose. Sabbath hadn't realized it until now, but this man also had a good six inches on her, and he was too close for her to do anything but struggle. With a snap of his fingers, three red rings appeared around Sabbath's body; one just below her elbows, one around her knees, and one around her ankles. They shrunk within seconds, restraining Sabbath like a trussed pig. The villain didn't even blink. He'd never taken his disapproving gaze off of her. She glared daggers up into his taunting face, wishing she could drop those walls of fire and summon a good explosion to get this creep off her, but she knew the second she did, he'd take off.

"So, you're the new Titan everyone's talking about…" he said, a heavy hint of menace in his voice "Well I must say I'm rather disappointed. Here I thought you'd pose a challenge. But you're just a fire bug. And I've no use for bugs, especially those who steal the show!" His hand tightened around Sabbath's throat in emphasis. "Luckily, I have just the thing for pesky pests like you," he said, slowly reaching his free hand towards the cheesy, fake flower pinned to the front pocket of his jacket.

Sabbath turned away as best she could, squeezing her eyes shut and holding her breath, expecting some kind of toxic gas or acid to be squirted in her face. What she didn't expect was a gigantic geyser of water to come pouring out of the flower pin, swirling through the alleyway and extinguishing both fire walls.

Sabbath's eyes flew open in astonishment as her mouth and nose filled with water. Now it was her turn to be stunned speechless, not even having the presence of mind to create an air bubble around her head. Luckily, she'd stopped breathing altogether in shock, so it wasn't an issue. Once the fires were extinguished, the water drained away into cracks in the cement just as quickly as it had appeared.

"Catch me if you can, Firefly!" Mumbo goaded over his shoulder as he sprinted away. Sabbath knew she should've been infuriated; first he threatened her, then he extinguished her fire walls, and now he'd given her a ridiculously annoying nickname? But she wasn't upset in the least. Her brain was still stuck on the physical impossibility of all that water coming from a fake flower.

Suddenly, Robin and Starfire zoomed past her, the motorcycle's tires sending up a fine mist of water. "C'mon, he's getting away!" Robin urged, his voice sounding crackly and slightly underwater as it shouted from the now water-logged communicator still snugly clasped at Sabbath's waist. The Boy Wonder's sudden appearance should've made her jump, at the least, but still she continued to stand there, frozen.

"Physics…broken…" she whispered. This Mumbo was really pushing the limits of reality, and the magic flood had been more than she could take. Even Sabbath herself couldn't spontaneously generate that much water out of thin air like that, and she didn't understand how anyone else could.

"_That's_ the part that freaks you out…" Raven said as she zoomed by, Cyborg riding a black disk closely behind her.

Beast Boy was the last to come running down the alley, this time in the form of a cheetah. He paused when he saw Sabbath, and returned to his human form as he asked, "Jane, you ok? Need help with those?"

It wasn't until the shape shifter gestured to the red rings still encasing Sabbath's body that she realized she was still tied up. She was starting to feel frustration well up inside her as she struggled in vain against the restraints. When she realized she couldn't break them or burn through them (_'What are these even made of?'_ she wondered), she hung her head and agreed to let Beast Boy help her.

In the blink of an eye, he transformed into a bear, suddenly towering over her. With one swipe of his claws, he cut cleanly through the red rings, freeing Sabbath from their hold. She let out a surprised cry when she saw his claws coming at her, and closed her eyes at the last second. She knew deep down he wouldn't hurt her, but she still couldn't help feeling afraid. She didn't open her eyes until she felt the rings fall away. They clattered to the ground before disappearing in a puff of red smoke.

"Thanks," she said, looking up at Beast Boy and offering a weak smile.

"Anytime," he replied cheerfully. "Now come on, he's getting away!" He then resumed his cheetah form and dashed off down the alley.

"Right behind you!" Sabbath called after him. She started to shake out her wings when the pain in her elbow reminded her of the flowerbox she'd hit. Glancing at her elbow, she discovered a small scrape. But it was the flowerbox that really caught her attention. Inside it were a few wilting petunia plants. Some of their petals had been washed away in Mumbo's magical flood, but the rest of the plant seemed mostly intact. Sabbath gazed thoughtfully at the pathetic, yet still alive plants as a plan formed in her mind. She quickly ripped on of the plants out of the soil and clutched it tightly in her fist as she stretched out her wings and took off down the alley.

When she finally caught sight of the rest of the team, they'd surrounded Mumbo on a quiet side street. He had his back to her, and all five Titans stood around him, weapons poised. The air was thick with tension as each Titan waited for the villain to make a move. Sabbath was only a block away when her plan came together. Pulling the communicator from her waist as she touched down on the pavement, she held down all the buttons and whispered "I've got a plan."

Robin, who was standing directly in front of Mumbo, gave a small nod in acknowledgment. Sabbath knew he couldn't answer aloud without raising Mumbo's suspicion, but she took his nod to mean "go on."

She continued to stalk quietly towards the group, satisfied that the whole team could hear her. "Starfire and Cyborg, hit him quick and hard to stun him," she whispered. "Raven and Beast Boy, block his escape routes and chase him towards me if he tries to run. I'll tie him up, and then Robin, you freeze him so he can't get away…Sound good?" After a minute, the whole Team gave small nods of silent agreement.

"NOW!" Robin yelled, catching the thief off guard at the sudden outburst. Simultaneously, Starfire and Cyborg hit him with equally strong blasts from opposite directions, sandwiching him between an explosion of green energy and a bright blue sonic blast. When the smoke cleared, Sabbath saw that the thief was kneeling on the ground, seeming dazed. If nothing else, that double hit must've blinded him. Still, Raven and Beast Boy kept their guards up. As Sabbath approached, thinking that was a lot easier than she'd been expecting, Mumbo quickly leapt to his feet.

"Haha! You'll need to do better than that, Titans!" he started to run, but Raven slammed a wide force field of black energy to cut him off. Screeching to a halt, the villain turned around and began running in the opposite direction, but Beast Boy was waiting for him. He transformed into a gigantic Tyrannosaurus Rex and let out a loud roar, shocking the thief for a split second, but that was all Sabbath needed.

"Hey, Mumbo!" she called out. He spun to face her, seeming surprised at her presence. "Catch!" and with that, she hurled the wilted petunia plant at the thief. His eyes grew wide as the unexpected projectile hit his face. The plant landed right on his nose, its sad stem of flowers sticking up right between his eyes. He narrowed his gaze at her as he spat out dirt and taunted, "Is that all you've got, Firefly?" he reached into his coat for his magic wand. "Hocus Po-mmph!"

"What was that?" Sabbath smirked. "Sorry, I can't hear you," she teased. The petunia plant that had been near death moments ago had suddenly sprung to life. Its stems grew long, and its roots grew longer, quickly wrapping around the magician's mouth before he could utter another word. Finally, the thief seemed to notice the green glow encompassing her still-outstretched hand. His eyes again grew wide as he put two and two together. But he didn't give up. He continued to wave his wand at her, his magic words muffled against the coils of root and stem wrapping around his head.

"Uh-uh-uh," Sabbath scolded, raising another glowing hand and causing a curling tendril of stem to reach out and snatch the wand out of Mumbo's hand and hold it just out of his reach before snapping it in two. Meanwhile, the roots continued to grow at unnatural speeds, quickly wrapping around the magician's entire body, only leaving his nose exposed so he could breathe. Finally, the roots found the pavement and burrowed in, planting themselves deep into the soil below and holding the villain firmly in place.

Yet the man continued to struggle. Sabbath almost admired his persistence. Then, he started snapping the vines and stems that held his arms at his sides. One by one they gave way, until he had a whole arm free and reached up towards his face. He was tearing the plant faster than Sabbath could regrow it, and she was starting to panic. _'Where the heck is Robin?'_ she wondered, straining to make the plant grow faster and faster.

Suddenly, a small, red and yellow disk flew over Sabbath's shoulder, hitting Mumbo in the center of his stomach. On contact, the disk exploded, the resulting chemicals instantly encasing the man in thick ice from the shoulders down.

Shortly after the Titans' victory, the police arrived to take the criminal away. As the police loaded the frozen thief into the back of their van, he continued to shout threats and taunts at the Titans until the cops finally slammed the doors and drove off, sirens blaring. The Titans ignored his empty words, and walked away, laughing and talking. Cyborg wanted to make a celebratory batch of all-you-can-eat waffles and bacon. Beast Boy demanded they be non-dairy waffles. Starfire proposed they stop at the store to pick up gravy and tuna for said waffles. Robin offered that maybe maple syrup or jelly would be better. Sabbath explained Nutella was a must for waffles, and suggested Cyborg crumble the cooked bacon into pieces and add it to the waffle batter. Raven suggested they first find wherever Cyborg's car had run off to.

Yet above this happy scene, a dark figure stood on a nearby rooftop, looking down at the young heroes. Unbeknownst to the Titans, the mysterious man had been watching the whole fight.

"Well now, Titans, what a lucky discovery you've made. It seems you've tamed the sister for me, how thoughtful. I believe a few tests are in order. Afterall, we want to ensure she reaches her full potential if she's to stand by my side," droned the man in a calm, monotonous voice as the bright morning sun glinted off his metallic mask above his one visible eye.


	19. Chapter 18: Permanent

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 18

A/N: This is Chapter 18 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

A/N: Sorry for the long wait (Did any of you see the valentine I posted? I'm new to photoshop, but I still counted that as my February submission last year. I'm working on a drawing for this chapter, and I've also still got a Halloween side story in the works.)! Thank you to everyone for being so patient. I have one word for you all: OHMYFREAKINGGODCOLLEGE! Never take an online course. Ever. Don't do it. I took an online creative writing course and it sucked out all my creative juices like some kind of awful vampire. And it wasn't even worth it; in the end my professor told me I "didn't focus on writing for an audience." What does that even mean? I've posted a Titan-related project of mine from that class so you can see for yourselves. It's called "Sweet Dreams, Terra". But anyway, thanks again for not giving up on me! As I've mentioned before, I will always come back! So without further delay, here's chapter 18!

***Sabbath's POV***

A few days had passed since Sabbath had run away to Titans' Tower and became an official Teen Titan. There had been a long, awkward conversation over breakfast after the battle with Mumbo and Sabbath had told the Titans everything she could about the fire. She even told them about the rope tying her foster parents' bedroom door shut, though with no evidence it wasn't much to go on. Still, in the end she seemed to have earned their trust and friendship. It turned out they hadn't taken her communicator away to kick her out, they'd simply wanted to give her a new one (one that wasn't quite as melted) as a surprise and officially induct her into the Teen Titans. There'd been congratulations, hugs, and Cyborg made celebratory all-you-can-eat pancakes.

It was amazing to think about all that had happened in such a short amount of time, but still Sabbath couldn't understand how she'd landed herself in the current predicament. After a while, her living in Titans' tower was starting to feel permanent, and what with almost everything she owned having been destroyed in a house fire, she'd decided to go out and pick up a few essentials. Now she suddenly found herself being led into the local shopping mall by a smiling Starfire and a far too amused Beast Boy.

"Joyous!" exclaimed Starfire as she continued to pull Sabbath by the sleeve. "You have not done the living until you have experienced the bountiful wonders of the mall of shopping!"

"Yeah, c'mon, it'll be fun!" Beast Boy added, dragging her by her other sleeve.

"Why are you here?" Sabbath asked the two Titans who had followed her into town. "I don't remember saying I needed anyone to come with me," she grumbled. She'd been in a bad mood all day. She couldn't pinpoint exactly why, but she suspected it had something to do with her hair not having been straightened in almost a week. It felt wrong and uncomfortable, and having to wrestle the unruly curls into submission every morning was really starting to get to her. For the past few days she'd had to manage with brushing it in the shower using a comb she found under the bathroom sink and just letting it do whatever it wanted from there. It wasn't a good look, to say the least.

"And you desire more clothing, yes?" Starfire continued, oblivious to Sabbath's complaints and foul mood. "You can never have too much of the clothing!"

"And we can get stuff to deck out your room and make it not so…gray!" Beast Boy beamed.

"My room's fine," Sabbath argued as she struggled to free herself from their grasps. Although, there was no denying she needed clothes. She'd had to wash her skirt and tights every night just to have something to wear the next day, and she'd never worn pajama tops (really just oversized t-shirts) as day clothes so much before in her life.

"We have arrived at the mall of shopping!" Starfire declared, drawing any attention that wasn't already on the teen heroes.

"I just need to grab a couple things," Sabbath continued. "We could've gone to Wal-Mart or something. Why does it have to be the mall?" She'd never liked malls. They were too over-priced, but more than that they were too crowded. Crowds made her uncomfortable, which made what Beast Boy said next all the more terrifying.

"But I heard the air conditioning's busted," the shape-shifter commented, looking from the massive building to Sabbath's hoodie. "You should probably ditch the sweater."

Sabbath paled. Today was particularly hot, even for the west coast. She was already starting to sweat under the hoodie, but taking it off would be a lot more uncomfortable. "Um…I'll be fine," Sabbath replied weakly, her gaze landing on a crowd of excessively sweaty teens exiting the mall.

"Hey, it's the Titans!" a guy in the group called out, turning to where Sabbath was standing.

"Starfire! Beast Boy! What's up?" another teen called out.

"Greetings to you, too, fellow adolescents!" Starfire replied, releasing Sabbath's sleeve to wave back at the teens. Beast Boy offered high fives with his free hand.

"Come to do some shopping?" one of the girls asked cheerfully.

_'What a stupid question…'_ Sabbath thought, the heat beginning to wear on her already grated nerves.

"Yes! Our new friend Jane is in need of the essentials," Starfire explained.

"Jane…" the girl replied, turning to face Sabbath. Then she gasped, "You're the new Titan! It's so cool to meet you!"

Sabbath forced a smile as she replied, "Nice to meet you, too."

"You're gonna melt in that hoodie," the girl continued. "The air conditioning in there's broken. But to make up for it, all the stores are having major sales!"

"Spectacular!" Starfire shouted. "We must hasten or we shall miss the sales! It was very nice meeting you all!" With that, Starfire reestablished her hold on Sabbath's sleeve and yanked her through the doors. Beast Boy, who still hadn't let go of Sabbath, got pulled along, too. Sabbath could hear the fangirls' squeals and shouts of "call me!" well after the automatic doors had closed behind him, and for some reason it made her mood that much worse.

Sabbath gasped as she entered the mall. It was somehow hotter _inside the building_ than it was outside. The air was thick with the combined body heat and sweat of countless teenagers, making it disgustingly hot and humid. "Maybe we should go somewhere else…" Sabbath said, already finding it hard to breathe.

"Nonsense!" Starfire replied. "You will find everything you require here, and we cannot miss the sales. You must simply remove the jacket of hoods."

"Seriously," Beast Boy said. "You'll pass out if you don't."

"You seem perfectly fine," Sabbath grumbled, gesturing at the shape shifter's long sleeved suit.

In response, he morphed into a dog and panted.

_'Of course.'_ Sabbath thought. _'And Starfire's not sweating either. Lucky alien.'_

"Here, I will assist you," Starfire said, tugging on Sabbath's sleeve. Beast Boy, still in canine form, joined in by yanking on the bottom hem.

"Urg…no…! …Give it-!" Sabbath struggled to keep a hold on her hoodie. She had waterproof make-up covering her marks, but the hoodie was the only thing hiding her wings and out-of-control hair. But the oppressive heat was making her sluggish, and she eventually lost the battle. Before she knew it, her hoodie slipped off her arms and landed silently on the scuffed tile floor at her feet.

She stood still in shock as the warm air made contact with her wings and arms.

"See? Do you not feel better?" Starfire asked cheerfully, watching Sabbath's face closely for a reaction.

Sabbath remained silent. People filed around them, some openly staring and others offering quick glances out of curiosity, and others still simply shot her dirty looks for blocking traffic. _'I…I don't…is this really ok?' _she wondered.

"Jane…?" Beast Boy began tentatively, resuming his human form with Sabbath's hoodie hanging limply from one hand.

Sabbath ignored him, not quite ready to form words out loud yet. She felt like disappearing into the wall or crawling under the nearest vendor table and staying there. She felt naked. But at the same time, her wings started to spread out, little by little, as if they had a mind of their own. They fanned slowly, testing the air. Despite how warm the air was, she felt herself cooling off as the sweat evaporated off her wings. It actually felt good.

"I guess…I do feel better," Sabbath replied at last. She felt her nerves cooling along with the rest of her, and eventually let a smile spread across her face. It took her a minute to realize that, while on the inside her brain was flicking through dozens of emotions, thoughts, and nervous compulsions, on the outside she was standing there like an idiot. "Come on, let's get this over with," she groused; only now the anger in her voice was pretend. So what if other people were staring at her; she couldn't change the fact that she had wings sprouting from her back and it was bloody hot in that mall. Let them stare. She didn't feel like passing out for the sake of other peoples' acceptance.

Starfire's grin spread even wider. "Wonderful!" she beamed. "Now, where to begin our search for the essentials?"

Sabbath wondered as much herself as she reached out to retrieve her hoodie from Beast Boy. He looked like he was about to protest, or at least try, but his expression relaxed when he saw she was merely tying it around her waist. She looked back and forth along the extensive hallway of boutiques and shops, trying to decide which way to go first. As if on cue, a frizzy black curl of hair sprung out from behind her ear and waved mockingly in front of her eyes. Blowing the stubborn lock out of her face, Sabbath finally said, "I think a hair salon should definitely be our first stop." She figured a mall this size would have to have a salon or beauty shop of some kind.

"Excellent idea! Come, it is this way!" Starfire said, hovering several inches off the ground as she led the way down the hall.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sabbath saw a slightly pained expression flash across Beast Boy's face. "Hey, you wanted to come along…" she said with a shrug. Then with a teasing smile she added, "It's too late to back out now!"

***Beast Boy's POV***

Jane was right, he had wanted to go shopping with her, though he couldn't totally explain why. Earlier that morning he'd heard her mention that she was going to go shopping in town. He remembered how nervous she'd seemed the other day when they'd fought Mumbo; she'd seemed afraid to be seen flying. When he thought back on all the other times she'd helped fight off villains, she'd seemed really hesitant to use her powers at all when other people were around. He was starting to realize she was uncomfortable around other people, and he wanted to help her get over that fear in any way he could. He wanted to show her that she was nothing to be afraid of.

The mall had actually been his idea. Right after Jane left the tower that morning he'd gone and talked to Star. Ever since she'd rescued Silky, Beast Boy had always been comfortable talking to her. She wasn't good with secrets, but she was good at helping people. In the end, she'd agreed it would be better if Jane didn't go out alone. Besides, he suspected Jane had no idea where the mall even was.

Now, as he was dragged through the overheated shopping mall towards the hair salon, where no guy would be caught dead, he started to wonder if he'd done the right thing. Maybe Jane was better off than he thought. He'd been worried at first when they made her take the hoodie off, even if it was for her own good, but now as she browsed the window displays and pointed things out to Starfire, she seemed perfectly fine.

The girls paused at a particularly colorful window display, and Jane pressed her face close to the glass to peer in at what looked like a really complicated doll house. It took up the store's entire window, and Jane and Starfire took turns pointing out different details of the tiny rooms. Beast Boy personally didn't see what the big deal was, but he was happy to stand there staring at the model house all day if it made Jane smile. One look at her happy expression and he was glad he'd decided to go shopping with her.

Jane's wings twitched and flicked with excitement as her attention was drawn to each new feature of the dollhouse. "Oh! Look at the tiny CD player; it has little CD's to go with it and everything!" Jane said, pointing out a room on the second level of the doll house. Glancing in the window Beast Boy saw that, sure enough, there was a stack of tiny silver disks next to the little boom box.

He wondered if Jane would like a CD player. He knew she had an iPod, but-

"Hey! Watch it!" someone yelled behind him.

Beast Boy spun around and saw an angry brunette girl yelling at Jane. The girl had sharp green eyes, tanned skin, straight brown hair a little longer than Raven's, and wore the same classic shorts and tank top that most teenaged girls wore. A pink shopping bag lay on the ground at her feet.

"I-I'm sorry, I guess I wasn't paying attention," Jane replied softly, her back now pressed to the window and her wings almost completely hidden.

As he watched Jane flinch away from the other girl, Beast Boy felt an unusually violent urge rise up in his chest.

***Return to Normal/Sabbath's POV***

"I-I'm sorry, I guess I wasn't paying attention," Sabbath said. She'd been so focused on the dollhouse that she'd forgotten about how crowded the mall was and that her wings weren't confined in her sweatshirt, and she'd accidentally flicked someone with them. She'd recoiled the instant she felt something come in contact with her wing, but when she'd turned around some girl was yelling at her.

"'Sorry?' You should be more careful!" the girl shot back. "You could put someone's eye out with those things!" she exclaimed, gesturing to Sabbath's wings which were sheepishly peeking around her shoulders.

Sabbath felt her temper begin to rise and take the place of her repentance. "I think you're overreacting; I barely tapped you. And I already apologized. What more do you want from me?"

"Well you could at least pick up the bag you ripped out of my hands," the girl replied with a scoff.

Glancing down at the ground, Sabbath noticed the small pink shopping bag lying on its side. She considered setting it on fire. Or activating the sprinkler system and washing off the girl's horrible spray-on tan. She brought her gaze up from the shopping bag and glared daggers into the girl's smug, green eyes.

"Jane, who is…?" Starfire began, finally turning around to see what all the commotion was about.

Thankfully, the brunette turned her attention to Starfire, breaking Sabbath's concentration before she had a chance to do something stupid. "You must be that alien I've heard so much about. I thought they were supposed to keep things like you locked up out in the desert somewhere because you're too dangerous to be a part of society."

'_I'll show her dangerous…'_ Sabbath thought. The urge to do something…horrible…was growing stronger. She wanted to show this girl exactly who she was messing with.

"Uhg, don't tell me you're with the _Titans!_" the girl said to Sabbath, her tone laced with abhorrence as she finally put two and two together.

Miraculously, Sabbath managed to retrieve the girl's shopping bag and politely hand it to her unscathed. _'No, even dousing her with nasty sprinkler water would be too good for her,'_ Sabbath thought as she ground her teeth together. Then out loud she replied, "As a matter of fact, I am." Her fury was just barely concealed in her voice, her temper hanging on by a thread. "What's it matter?"

"So did you, like, have some kind of lab accident? Were you some weird experiment?" the girl asked, her eyes widening with mock curiosity. Then with a laugh she added, "Well whatever it was, it clearly didn't work. I almost feel bad for you, getting turned into some kind of mutant like that. Then again, my daddy says you freaks are nothing but a drain on our society. My daddy says you're just a huge waste of our taxpayers' money and you're the reason this city's going to shit. But he didn't say you were classless, too. When he's mayor of this town next year, he says you'll be the first mess he fixes."

"Hey, leave Jane-" Beast Boy started, but Sabbath reached a hand out in a 'let it go' gesture. Starfire seemed to take the hint too, and kept quiet.

The brunette turned her attention to Beast Boy. Wrinkling her nose in disgust, she asked him, "Are you supposed to be related to the Hulk? Huh, too bad. If it weren't for the weird skin and fangs, you might almost be kinda cute."

Sabbath wanted to blast this girl across the building, burn off every inch of her ridiculously perfect, chestnut hair, and encase her body in stone for the rest of eternity. She clenched her fists, straining to keep a civil, neutral expression on her face. She could feel her powers, all four elements' energies, crashing inside her and begging to be released. How dare this stuck-up daddy's girl talk to Beast Boy like that?! Sabbath couldn't put into words why this girl's attack on the shape shifter infuriated her so much, but she couldn't let the horrible brunette keep talking. Something had to be done. She watched as Beast Boy averted his gaze to the ground, his jaw clenched and eyes glaring down at the ugly linoleum. He didn't say a word.

"Well, it was nice talking to you, but we've got to get going," Sabbath said at last, a polite smile reflecting her surprising words. The urge to physically retaliate against this girl for all she'd said to the Titans was still pounding through her veins, but she knew that wouldn't make the situation any better, regardless of how good it would feel. "Have a nice day!" she added with a wave.

"Pfft, whatever," the girl replied, rolling her eyes. "Nice hair, by the way," she shot at Sabbath before turning and walking off down the crowded hallway.

"Thanks! And good luck with the push-up bra!" Sabbath called after her cheerfully. A few strangers turned their attention briefly to the short-haired brunette as she strode by, a couple of them even stifling giggles behind their hands. When Sabbath turned back to face the Titans, she saw they were both giving her equally strange looks. "That's what was in the bag she dropped. I saw the tag sticking out of the bag when I picked it up," Sabbath explained. "And with a personality like that she's gonna need all the breast enhancement she can get," she added, all traces of fake cheer gone from her voice. She'd planned to just let the whole thing go, but the hair comment had been a low blow.

"What a glebernacking clhorrbag!" Starfire fumed once the girl was out of hearing range.

"You said it," Sabbath agreed, though she had no idea what the alien girl had just said. The great thing about insults was that, no matter what language they were in, they were pretty universal.

"Did that girl say her dad was the mayor?" Beast Boy asked, sounding a little worried.

"Something like that," Sabbath replied, rolling her eyes. "But it doesn't matter. What's she going to do, get the Teen Titans fired? Order us to stop fighting crime?"

"…Please, what is this 'pull-up bra' of which you spoke?" Starfire asked.

Sabbath grimaced, and she saw Beast Boy's face darken in a blush out of the corner of her eye. "I'll explain later," she replied. "But for now, let's forget about that girl. You mentioned something about a hair salon?"

"Yes! It is this way, follow me!" the alien girl beamed, her good mood restored as she took off down the hall.

Sabbath took one last glance at the enchanting doll house window display before following along.

"That girl had some serious issues, huh?" Beast Boy piped up, trying to lighten Sabbath's mood as he following closely behind her.

"Pfft, she was nothing special. Just your typical ignorant daddy's girl," Sabbath replied smoothly. She didn't want to admit how much that stupid brunette had actually gotten under her skin. She'd almost used her powers on an ordinary, defenseless mall rat, and for what? That only would've proved the girl's claims of the Titans being animalistic freaks. Sabbath sighed; she really needed to work on her temper.

But in the meantime, she wanted to avoid any more attention. She reached down to unfasten her sweatshirt from her waist. It was still ridiculously hot in the mall, but she'd rather be sweaty than invite further confrontations. Before she could get her hands around the sweatshirt's sleeves, however, it was yanked out of her grip.

Looking around, desperate to locate the sweatshirt as well as its kidnapper, she spotted a green dog where Beast Boy had been standing. Firmly clenched in his jaws was her hoodie. Before she could get out a single word of protest, he took off, easily weaving through the crowd in his canine form.

"Hey, come back!" she shouted, running after him as best she could without bumping into anyone else. "Wait up!"

Up ahead, from somewhere in the crowd she heard a muffled bark echo in response. "You're dead tofu when I catch up to you!" she yelled, though there was no anger in her tone. To her surprise, she was actually laughing.

Finally, Sabbath caught up with the two other Titans at the mall's hair salon. It was a small, windowless place, filled with rows of shelves containing nail polish, makeup, and hair products. It smelled strongly of hairspray and cheap perfume. As soon as the three teens walked through the door, they were immediately welcomed by a cheerful, young woman with blond hair and a slight Russian accent. She couldn't have been more than ten years older than the Titans, but Sabbath still got the feeling this woman was to be treated like an adult. She almost seemed to give off a sort of mother-figure vibe. However, when she saw Starfire, she greeted the alien girl more informally, as if they were old friends. Sabbath suspected the redhead came here a lot.

"My little Star, it is so good to see you again!" the woman beamed as she went in for a hug.

"And I have missed you as well!" Starfire said, a giant smile on her face.

"What is it you need today? Your hair looks perfect, as always."

"Gesell, I wish to introduce you to my friends, Beast Boy and Jane," Starfire replied, gesturing to the two Titans standing awkwardly in the doorway.

Beast Boy remained silent. Sabbath peeked at him out of the corner of her eye, and saw that he was trying to stay as close to the entryway of the store as possible.

Gesell seemed to pick up on Beast Boy's discomfort, and approached him first. "Welcome to my shop, Beast Boy," she offered with a warm smile.

He muttered back a quick, yet polite response before resuming his silence.

"You know," she continued. "This is not a place of judgment…And I'll tell you a secret."

Beast Boy's ears perked up at that despite himself, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Seeing she had the green boy's attention, Gesell leaned in close to him and stage-whispered, "Even big, tough, macho men come to my salon. I believe even your Robin comes here once in a while."

"Robin?! No way!" Beast Boy exclaimed, unable to contain himself.

"Yes," Gesell continued, grinning at the shape shifter's response. "I am the only supplier in the city who can get ahold of his specially imported brand of hair gel. Is true!"

"Hahahahah! Dude…!" Beast Boy dissolved into laughter, suddenly seeming much more comfortable.

Sabbath found herself joining in on the infectious laughter at the Boy Wonder's expense. The thought of him walking into such a girly place to buy special hair products…and then turning around and acting all callous and professional? It was just too much.

"And then you must be Jane?" Gesell finally said, turning to face Sabbath.

"It's nice to meet you," Sabbath said, her giggles dissipating.

"Jane is in need of the essentials," Starfire explained.

"I can see that," Gesell said sympathetically, her eyes going straight to Sabbath's hair. "But not to worry dear, Gesell will fix you right up!"

Sabbath hesitated. She was almost embarrassed of the state of her hair, and didn't really want anyone trying to fix it. It wasn't dirty or anything, but as it was now, it would prove a challenge for even the most experienced hairdresser. She didn't wish this hair on anyone, especially someone as nice as Gesell seemed to be. "That's alright," Sabbath began, trying to explain. "It takes a really long time to 'fix' all this. I was just wondering if you had any flat irons for sale?"

"Certainly," Gesell said. Then, noticing the tense look on Sabbath's face, she smiled reassuringly and added, "Don't worry, I understand perfectly. After all, no one knows your hair better than you, eh?"

Sabbath sighed in relief. This person actually understood. Maybe Gesell had unmanageable hair herself and was just amazing at hiding it?

"So I guess that just leaves you, Star, darling," she said sunnily, finally returning her attention to Starfire. "Just the usual?"

"Yes, please!" Starfire beamed. Then to Sabbath and Beast Boy she added, "Are you sure you do not wish to partake in the joyous rituals of earthly hair dressings?"

"Yeah, I'm good, Star," Beast Boy said. Then, giggling to himself he added, "Special imported hair gel, pfft!"

"I'm all set, you go ahead," Sabbath replied.

Gesell set to work on Starfire's hair, and Beast Boy browsed through the shelves of hair products with an air of skepticism. Sabbath's hoodie was now tied loosely around his waist, although he seemed to have forgotten about it by now. He stroked his chin in thought, peering closely at the various hair products lining the shelves.

Bored, Sabbath plopped down on the long, ugly bench against the far wall. It looked like it'd been upholstered with a cheap, plastic tablecloth. She picked up a magazine at random off the low coffee table in front of her and, leaning back against the wall, idly leafed it, flipping through page after page of fashionable hair styles. A lot of what she saw was almost cringe-worthy, but there were a few she was downright envious of. It was almost unfair for anyone to have hair so perfect.

As she scanned through all the different hair styles and fashion models, she began to feel more and more self-conscious about the horrible state of her own hair. These people even made bad haircuts look good. '_But realistically, these people probably spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars getting their hair to look that way,'_ Sabbath told herself._ 'Not to mention hours of tedious work. Three hours with a flat iron is probably nothing compared to what these models had to go through. Not that I pity them or anything. But still.'_

Her thoughts began to wander as she tossed the magazine back on the low table. It was starting to bother her, how badly she needed to fix her hair. She reached up and freed a springy, curly black lock from behind her ear and examined it. _'Something definitely needs to be done,'_ she concluded. Releasing the piece of hair, she began to browse a nearby display of hair products. There were so many different bottles and jars, only half of which she recognized. She chewed a fingernail as she mentally compared heat protectants, shine enhancing oils, and frizz controllers.

"Ey! Young ladies should never bite their nails!" Gesell scolded, suddenly appearing out of nowhere and gently yanking Sabbath's fingers away from her mouth.

Sabbath jumped a mile as she instinctively yanked her wrist out of the woman's grip. She dropped the bottle of split end remedy conditioner she'd been looking at and felt sparks jump to her fingertips. Beast Boy, who had been checking out hair gels a few isles down, popped his head around the corner to see what was going on.

"Wha…you scared me!" Sabbath gasped, taking in the equally alarmed expression on Gesell's face.

"That was not my intention, I promise you," Gesell said softly. "I did not mean to alarm you."

Sabbath didn't know how to respond. _'I guess my run-in with that daddy's-girl brat has me kind of on high alert,'_ she thought. At last she muttered, "It's fine…I just didn't see you there. I thought you were doing Starfire's…-" She trailed off, realizing how psychotic she must seem. _"Great first impression you're making here, Hellingsworth,' _she mentally scolded. Peeking around the worried-looking hairdresser, Sabbath noticed Starfire sitting giddily under a hairdryer. "O-…oh, that was quick!" Sabbath added with a smile, desperate to lighten the mood.

"Come," Gesell said, gently leading Sabbath to a nearby table. A carousal of every color nail polish imaginable sat on one end, and the other had a small tray of various brushes and a nail dryer. "We still have twenty minutes until my little Star's hair is finished drying," she continued, motioning for Sabbath to sit in the chair on one side of the table. "Let Gesell give you a manicure. Young ladies should always have their nails painted. It inspires confidence. Plus," she added, "it is very relaxing."

"Ok, thanks…" Sabbath said slowly, sliding into one of the high chairs at the table. "Sorry I was so jumpy; I guess it's just one of those days. The mall's pretty crowded today, and I guess it's making me a little…uncomfortable."

"Do not worry, I understand," Gesell said, taking a seat across the table from Sabbath. "And I don't know if you have noticed yet, but the teenagers around here are so much more confrontational than they were in my day." Then, gesturing to the carousal she said, "Pick two colors, I will give you our most popular design."

Sabbath spun the carousal a couple times, browsing the selection of polishes, before picking a bright pink and a shimmering silver. She felt like she'd been wearing a lot of dark clothes lately and wanted to brighten up her look. Handing them over to Gesell she replied, "I know what you mean. I sort of had a run-in with a girl here today. I thought she was going to bite my head off just because I bumped into her." Sabbath felt her self-consciousness return as she remembered the incident.

"Yes," Gesell agreed as she set to work filing Sabbath's nails to even lengths. "I am worried for my daughter, who is starting high school here this year. I do not want her to get in with the wrong group of people, but I also fear there are not many good people left for her to make friends with."

"I know what you mean," Sabbath replied as she thought back through all of her high school experiences. She'd been to a few different schools, and while no one had been brave enough to really bully her, she'd seen a lot of other classmates who weren't so lucky. "I haven't lived here long, but I spent the last few weeks of the semester here. It wasn't exactly the most welcoming environment, but it's not the worst I've seen, either."

"She is attending the private school, so perhaps it will be not too bad," Gesell said as she painted a base coat on Sabbath's nails. "My daughter is…special. Gifted. Her talents far exceed those of her peers."

'_She must be really smart or something,'_ Sabbath thought. _'And Gesell must be older than she looks if she has a teenaged daughter, unless the girl was smart enough to even skip a grade or two.'_

"A girl like her will be very prone to being picked on or treated as an outcast," Gesell continued solemnly. "But if a Teen Titan is attending there as well, perhaps I do not have need to worry."

Sabbath couldn't think of a way to respond to that. She didn't have the heart to tell Gesell it was the public school she'd gone to, not the private one, but it got her thinking about what she was going to do when the summer was over. The other Titans didn't go to school. Did that mean she didn't have to go anymore either?

She mulled over the question as she watched Gesell deftly apply the pink polish. She didn't get a single smudge on Sabbath's skin. She then applied a clear, quick-drying top coat over the pink, setting the color in seconds as well as giving her nails an even, glossy shine. Lastly, Gesell reached for the silver polish and picked up a fine-tipped brush off the tray. Setting the bottle's cap aside, she used the fine-tipped brush to paint tiny, perfect silver stars on Sabbath's nails at random, making each nail a little different from the last. She topped it off with one last layer of the top coat and said with a smile, "There, all finished!"

"Wow…" Sabbath marveled, admiring her nails. She didn't usually bother to paint her nails, never mind get them painted at a salon, but looking at them now she couldn't remember why. "Thank you so much, they're beautiful! Umm…how much do I owe you?"

"It is on the house," Gesell replied casually as she walked back to the hairdryers to check on Starfire. "Nothing keeps a girl from biting her nails like a pretty manicure. Plus, you are a member of the Teen Titans, no? I do not charge the Titans, not even a signature is required in my shop. I know you will pay me back tenfold by keeping my city and family safe."

"I guess," Sabbath replied uncertainly. She knew that was usually how things worked, that Titans didn't pay for things as long as they protected the city, but she still didn't feel right about not doing anything in return for the manicure. Plus there was the flat iron…

"Unless you know how to fix air conditioner!" Gesell added jokingly over her shoulder as she adjusted the settings on Starfire's hairdryer.

"No, but Cyborg might," Sabbath muttered, trailing off as her mind wandered. This wasn't Cyborg's debt to pay. But if she couldn't fix the air conditioning, was there some other way she could cool down the shop for Gesell?

"I was joking," Gesell said with a laugh. "I've been told there's no fixing this old central air without new parts. They have purchased them, but they will not arrive for a few more days," she added as she walked across the salon to where the sinks were. Sitting beside one was a plastic bottle of soda that had to be warm by now. Gesell grimaced as she took a sip from the bottle, confirming Sabbath's suspicions, and set it back down on the counter.

"Well, I might not be able to cool off the building, but I can at least chill that drink for you," Sabbath offered, an idea forming in her mind. Walking over to where Gesell stood, Sabbath turned on the nearest sink. Her newly manicured hands glowed a deep blue, and as she concentrated the glow extended to the water coming out of the faucet. Instead of collecting in the sink and going down the drain, the glowing shower of water curled up out of the sink and drifted towards Sabbath's outstretched hands. After she'd collected a football-sized glob of water, she held it aside with one hand and used the other to reach over and turn off the faucet.

She then returned her attention to the water, and with a few simple, directive gestures of her hand, the water flowed through the air towards the soda bottle and wrapped around it, molding into the shape of a tall, cylindrical cup holder. Satisfied with its form, Sabbath then clenched her fist, condensing the water and freezing it solid. Then, for an added touch, Sabbath turned the faucet back on and held her still-glowing hands a couple inches away from the spray. As the water fell past her hands, each droplet froze into a rough blob that landed in the sink with a sharp *_plink*_. The sink filled halfway with this unique version of crushed ice before Sabbath let the glow fade from her hands and turned off the faucet.

"Um, ta-da!" Sabbath said, turning uncertainly to face Gesell. Normally she would have never done something like that in front of a virtual stranger, but she had a feeling she could trust Gesell. Regardless, she was still nervous to see the woman's reaction.

She turned to see Gesell giving her an unreadable look, something between curiosity and confusion. Then, Starfire's hairdryer let out a long beep, and Gesell's smile returned. "Be right there, Star, darling," she called over shoulder as she approached the sink and reached out for her soda. Lifting it delicately out of its ice holder, she uncapped it and took a sip. "Mmm, much better," she said to Sabbath. "Thank you very much." Then she replaced the bottle's cap, slipped it back in its holder and went to free Starfire from the hairdryer.

Sabbath knew the soda wouldn't have cooled off that quickly, but she appreciated Gesell's polite response. She smiled back and quietly replied, "You're welcome," even though by now the woman had her back to her.

The rest of their time at the mall was fairly uneventful. By the time they got back to the Tower, all three Titans had their arms loaded with bags. The mood was light as Starfire chattered on about this and that, and the other two agreed and chimed in politely when necessary. Sabbath hated to admit it, but she'd actually managed to have fun at the mall, despite the heat and oppressive crowds. Maybe having friends made all the difference.

There was only one thing on her mind that was still bothering her. What _would_ happen when the summer was over? Maybe the Titans did go to school? Or maybe a tutor came to the Tower every day? She had no idea. But her question would be answered a lot sooner than she thought.


	20. Chapter 19: Trouble

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 19

A/N: This is Chapter 19 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

Sabbath sighed with content as she slid her flat iron over the last unruly length of hair. As she inspected her reflection in the bathroom mirror, she was happy to see her old self looking back at last. Not only did she feel as if she'd lost about five or ten pounds (curly hair was so much heavier than it looked), but once again she _looked_ like herself. Having to go around with curly hair, no make-up, and pajamas for so long had started to wear her down, but now she had her hair the way she wanted it, her make-up was just right, and she was wearing her favorite outfit, the one she'd bought for her first meeting with the Titans. "I'm back," she whispered to her smiling reflection. After giving her hair a quick brushing to smooth it out, she unplugged her straightener and flicked off the bathroom light as she left.

As she walked down the hallway to the main room of the Tower, she briefly inspected her clothing for any stray hairs. Satisfied with her appearance, she tapped the control panel beside the doors to the main room, causing them to slide open with a small *_whoosh*_.

Before she could even say 'bathroom's free,' a green blur flew past her.

"_Finally!"_ the blur cried as it zipped through the still-open doors.

"I didn't take that long!" Sabbath said defensively. "And don't touch that flat iron on the sink; it's still hot!" The doors slid shut on those last words, and she doubted the shape shifter had heard her.

"You were in there for two hours," Raven said flatly from behind her book.

"Yes, we were beginning to worry," Starfire added.

"I told you guys it was gonna take a while…" Sabbath muttered, slightly embarrassed. Then louder she added, "And it's not like he couldn't have just knocked on the door or something. I said if anyone needed the bathroom to say something and I'd get out…"

Just as Sabbath's mood was beginning to darken, Starfire changed the subject in her uniquely cheerful way. "But your hair looks exquisite! It shines brighter than the third moon of Entlebarg!"

"Thanks," Sabbath replied happily, despite the strange comment. "That stuff Gesell gave me really did the trick!"

Suddenly, before the two girls could get lost in the spiral of conversation that was hair talk, the double doors slid open again as Cyborg entered the room.

"Well, I'm all done installin' that doorbell and dead bolt downstairs. Here you are, ladies," he said, handing Sabbath and Starfire each a small, silver key before continuing through the room towards Raven. "And one for you," he said with extra cheer, dangling the silver key in front of the girl's book. He held it there for a moment, playfully daring the girl to react. After a few awkwardly silent moments she eventually reached up and snatched the key out of his grip, never once looking up from the pages of her book.

"Where's B?" Cyborg asked, turning back to Sabbath and Starfire.

"He is in the room of baths," Starfire reported.

"And judging from how fast he was running, he might be a while," Sabbath said, barely hiding a laugh. "But what's this about a dead bolt?"

"Well, make sure he gets this," he said, dropping the last key on the kitchen counter. "I gotta fix the main entrance. The whole identification program's messed up and the security camera's jammed. I'll have to replace the whole system, so we'll be goin' old school for a while."

Sabbath looked down, giving her key a closer look. It looked like a regular house key, like the kind you'd get cut at a hardware store, dangling from a simple silver ring. Also hanging from the ring was a small plastic tag housing a piece of paper with 'JANE' printed on it. Glancing over at Starfire's key, she saw hers had a different colored tag that said 'STARFIRE', but other than that everything was identical. It seemed awfully low-tech for a place like Titan's Tower.

"I should be done by tomorrow, assuming I can find all the parts I need in town," he added, turning back towards the doors.

"What about Robin?" Starfire asked. "Does he not require the key as well?"

"I gave him one this morning before he had a chance to disappear for the day," Cyborg replied as he turned to leave, reaching for the control panel. "Make sure y'all don't forget to lock up!" he called over his shoulder before the doors whooshed shut behind him.

Sabbath gave her key one more look before stuffing it into the pocket of her skirt with a shrug. Then, turning to Starfire, she casually joked, "Well at least you guys have a doorbell now!"

Suddenly, Raven snapped her book shut and stood up. Silently, she hovered over to the door. She reached for the control panel, then stopped at the last minute and moved aside. Before Sabbath could ask her what was wrong, the doors flew open and Beast Boy burst through them with a sigh.

Noticing the girl lurking out of his direct path, his face lit with a mischievous grin and he said, "All yours, Rave. But I'd give it a minute if I were you."

Raven let out a quiet grumble of disgust before sliding past him and heading down the hall in the opposite direction of the bathroom.

_'It's like she knew he was coming…'_ Sabbath thought curiously.

"Perhaps we were being too loud?" Starfire ventured quietly, even though Raven was long out of earshot.

"Maybe…" Sabbath replied, her mind already wandering. Now that her appearance was back in order and life in general seemed to have calmed down, she started to wonder when she'd last looked at her guitar, never mind actually practiced. It occurred to her that she hadn't played since the fire. Her fingers suddenly itched to pluck at its familiar strings again.

Just then, a timer buzzed in the kitchen and Starfire dashed away with a worried cry, "My Kavorkian Grub Roots!"

Sabbath heard Beast Boy booting up the gamestation across the room, along with Starfire's clinking and crashing around in the kitchen. Realizing she wasn't needed at the moment, she slipped out of the room before that status changed.

Once in her room, Sabbath dragged her guitar case out from where it stood in the closet and set it down in the middle of the floor. She slid the zipper open and pulled out the instrument, which was a lot easier to do now that the case wasn't crammed full of all her other belongings. Everything had a place now, and now all that remained in the guitar case was a thin workbook and the guitar itself.

Its slightly worn black finish shone under the room's track lighting, and the old pink heart sticker near the bottom peeled back the slightest bit in one corner, just like always. She smiled. _'At least one thing hasn't changed.'_

Hauling the old acoustic up onto her bed, Sabbath spread her sheet music out on her new comforter (white with pink stars, Starfire's choice) and was about to start tuning up the strings –the only thing she really learned at that high school other than basic scales– but then thought better of it. _'I shouldn't spend all my time hiding out in my room,'_ she thought. _'I'm not living with strangers anymore, these people are my friends.'_

_ 'But Raven spends most of her time in her room,'_ Sabbath's inner voice countered.

_'But I'm not like Raven,' _Sabbath replied to her inner monologue.'_At least, I don't really want to be. Raven seems…nice…I guess…but she has a real home here with people who genuinely care about her. Who could want to spend their time deliberately ignoring that?'_

Her mind made up, Sabbath picked up her music and guitar and headed back out to the main room of the Tower. Beast Boy had turned off his video game and was shuffling around near the console, digging through piles of games. Starfire was still at her post in the kitchen, cracking open mysterious green rocks on the counter with a rolling pin.

Sabbath should've considered their racket distracting, but the only word that came to mind was "homey." She somehow found their background noise comforting as she settled in at the dining table across from the kitchen. It was tucked up close to the wall, with one long bench along the wall in place of chairs on one side. A couple stray chairs were dragged up to the table on the other side, but Sabbath found the bench seat more comfortable. She slid into it and sat with her legs crossed and the guitar in her lap. She spread the sheets of beginners music lessons out on the table and draped one arm over the instrument, her wings relaxing against the wall behind her. As she tried to remember the correct finger placement, a particularly stubborn lock of hair slid over her shoulder, but after tucking it firmly behind her ear and getting her fingers poised over the right frets, she fell back into the familiar rhythm of the scale.

_'That's right, I remember now…open, first, third…open, second, third…open, second, third…_' Sabbath felt her breathing slow as her pulse beat to the calm, steady rhythm of her playing. _'_Open_, first, second…open, fir-'_

"FOUND IT!" Beast Boy suddenly yelled. Sabbath's pick slipped off the strings, striking a number of sour notes. She looked up in annoyance.

"What have you found?" Starfire asked, looking up from stirring a bowl of green and purple mush.

"The coupon for Super Monkey Robots 5!" he said, holding up a brightly colored flyer with, sure enough, robot monkeys on it. "It's only good until today, I gotta get down there!" And with that, the green boy raced out the door at full speed.

Starfire merely shrugged and turned back to her baking. Sabbath readjusted her hold on the guitar, trying to pick up where she'd left off and recover that sense of peace. Placing her fingers over the first string again, she took a deep breath and started over from the top. _'Open, second-no first, third…open..second, third…open, second, third…_ _open..second…open, first, thir-'_

*RIIIIIINNGGG*

Sabbath hit the string too hard, causing the pick to jump out of her grip altogether. She stood up immediately, her heart instantly racing as she thought for a moment the Titan alarm was going off, but then realized it was just the doorbell. The angry buzz came again, and Starfire looked up from placing scoops of dark purple sludge on a baking sheet, seeming equally startled. Then her features calmed as her gaze landed on something on the counter.

"It must be Beast Boy," Starfire said. "It would seem he has forgotten the key."

Sabbath looked where the alien girl was pointing with a wooden spoon and saw that, sure enough, a silver key with a green plastic name tag reading 'BEAST BOY' sat abandoned on the kitchen counter.

With an agitated sigh, Sabbath thunked her guitar down on the table and stalked over to the kitchen. The doorbell rang again as she grabbed the key and stomped out of the room. She tapped her foot impatiently as the elevator descended to the main entrance level, one up from the garage. Finally, the doors slid open to reveal a long, dark hallway with high ceilings and dramatic track lighting. Chairs lined the walls at even intervals all the way to the impressive double doors. Every footstep echoed off the smooth, grey walls. Suddenly, another blast from the doorbell pounded through the Tower's speaker system, made all the louder by the hall's echo chamber qualities.

Sabbath felt her temper rising. "I hear you!" she called out as she reached the doors. Pulling open the massive deadbolt and opening the door she added, "Beast Boy, I'm going to tie this key to your-!" but as she saw who was on the other side, her words died on her lips. The word "tail" ended up as a quiet whisper, falling below hearing range. For standing before her was not the shapeshifter, or anyone else she knew for that matter. An impatient-looking man in a suit crossed his arms as he stared her down. Despite his less than average height, his slicked-back hair and expensive-looking shoes told Sabbath this man was important and she probably shouldn't be yelling at him.

"I assume you weren't addressing me," he said, his sharp, pale green eyes showing no signs of amusement. If anything, Sabbath thought she caught a glimpse of barely-surpressed disgust.

"I uh, no…" she replied weakly, her mind suddenly racing. '_He looks so familiar,_' she thought. _'Where have I seen that face before?'_ And then it hit her. She hadn't seen this man before, but she'd seen strikingly similar eyes, framed by the same color hair, with that same look of haughty disgust…_'Oh, CRAP!' _Then out loud she added, "Uh, hang on." With that, she let the door fall shut in the man's face. She could feel panic rising in her blood as she retreated to the far end of the hallway. Ripping her communicator from the waistband of her skirt, she held down all the channel buttons at once as she urgently whispered, "Guys! There's someone at the door and…I might have gotten us into trouble with the mayor! I don't know what to do, I mean maybe he'll just go away but I already opened the door once and I-"

Her mindless blathering was suddenly cut off by the stern, clear voice of the Boy Wonder. "Jane, calm down. Who's at the door?"

"I don't know exactly!" she hissed back. "But I think he knows the mayor or something and I might have gotten into a…disagreement with his daughter at the mall yesterday and-"

"Not the girl from the mall!" Beast Boy's voice suddenly chimed in.

"I think it's her dad!" Sabbath replied. The doorbell started ringing again, but she ignored it. "The one she said was going to be mayor or something!"

"Well you can't just leave the man standing at our door forever," Robin said, ever the voice of reason. "Whatever happened, we'll talk about it later. But right now, apologize and bring him up. I'm on my way. Robin out."


	21. Chapter 20: Consequences?

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 20

A/N: This is Chapter 20 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

PS. Wow, the big 2-0! I'm pretty surprised, and so happy you've read this far! Thanks to all my readers, new and old! This chapter marks the beginning of the next big story arc. I have a work in progress on SketchbookPro to go along with it, and it should be up on my DeviantArt account soon (since I still haven't really figured out the photo uploader for fanfiction). This chapter and the next one are probably going to be a little on the short side, but I like to end on a dramatic note, and starting now there's going to be a lot of drama (the fun kind, not the delete-your-facebook kind) : D To make up for the shortness, though, I'll probably be updating more often.

Sabbath fidgeted with her communicator in her seat at the Tower's kitchen table, her guitar and the peace it brought long forgotten. Her wings were tucked firmly against her back, their joints straining to remain absolutely stiff and still at all costs. Starfire sat beside her, bake ware and ingredients scattered around the stove and sink, abandoned. A single pot simmered quietly on the stove, but the alien girl ignored it, the hem of her skirt suddenly becoming the focus of her attention. Raven sat by herself on the far end of the bench, ignoring the tense atmosphere and the man responsible from behind the pages of her book.

Sabbath cleared her throat and turned her cautious gaze up to the man standing impatiently before her. "The guys should be here any minute," she offered weakly.

The sharp-eyed man in the expensive suit just looked at her with an expression of bored disgust. He checked his watch for what felt to Sabbath like the hundredth time, and turned his sullen gaze back to the door.

Then, as if hearing her words, the doors swished open to reveal a calm, serious Robin. The Boy Wonder strode over to the stranger with an air of mature professionalism. He extended his hand as he introduced himself, "Sorry to keep you waiting. I'm Robin, the leader of-"

"As I told the others," the man said, cutting the Boy Wonder off mid-sentence and ignoring his outstretched hand, "The message I've come to deliver pertains to the entire group. Therefore, to avoid repeating myself and further wasting time, I will discuss it when the rest are present. I was told there are six of you. You may have a seat with your friends while we continue to wait for the remaining two."

Sabbath held her breath. She watched as the stranger and Robin exchange a brief, silent battle of wills through looks alone. Suddenly, Robin's head turned to one side. Raven had closed her book and had her eyes locked on the Boy Wonder's. He nodded almost unperceptively before calmly claiming one of the chairs near the middle of the bench. Sabbath archer her eyebrows in surprise, but the Titans remained silent. Raven put her hood up and continued reading her book, Robin crossed his arms and leaned back into the bench, and Starfire continued meekly picking at the hem of her skirt.

***Raven's POV***

The air in the room was almost too thick to breathe, the tension nearly unbearable. She tried to block it out, but every word she read was overridden with intense mental static from all the emotions in the room. Raven detected a sense of guilty unease in Jane, and similar feelings in Starfire. Although she couldn't read exactly what the cause of it was, she could tell it was strongly linked to this unwelcome, unpleasant stranger.

The man wasn't outright evil, his heart not completely blackened, but there was a strong hatred in him; a contempt of everyone else in the room. There was some darkness in him, as there is in a lot of people, but his was growing. She couldn't tell what his exact purpose here was, but Raven could tell it was important, and that it gave him a feeling of sadistic satisfaction. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good news for the Titans.

Suddenly, Raven felt Robin's presence approaching. She'd been in his mind, and had since shared an especially strong psychic connection with him. When the doors slid open and he saw the stranger standing in front of his teammates, Raven could feel his confusion and worry. Nevertheless, not a single emotion showed on his face. He approached the man with flawless composure.

The two exchanged words, and when the man cut Robin off, Raven felt a testosterone-fueled rebuttal begin to build up in the Boy Wonder. She could almost hear him planning his next sentence word-for-word. While she mostly only got images and feelings from other people, and stronger ones in particular from the other Titans, with Robin it was like he was talking on the other side of a double-paned window; a bit muffled, but she still got the general gist of it. Sometimes she could even pick up a few words. Raven knew that what he was thinking would only make things worse for the team, and that his status as alpha being challenged was clouding his better judgment. She put her book down and did something she had promised herself she would never do again.

_'Robin,'_ she thought to him. The boy's head shot towards her in surprise, confusion temporarily cooling his bubbling thoughts. _'Don't. This man is here to tell us something, something bad. I don't know what exactly, but losing control of your anger right now will only give him reason to make it worse.'_

He wasn't happy about it, but with a small nod he finally replied, '…Yo_u're right…' _

Raven could tell Robin still felt a sense of unfinished business with the stranger, but regardless he sat down without another word. She sensed slight confusion coming from Jane but ignored it. The silence in the room was beginning to grow awkward, adding to what was already an uncomfortable environment. Meditation would clear her head and relieve the growing psychic tension that was starting to pound through her temples, but she didn't want to trigger any anger in the mysterious visitor by having him think she'd fallen asleep. Instead she put her hood up, easing the glare that was starting to hurt her eyes, and picked up her book in an attempt to block out the world.

**Return to Normal/Sabbath's POV***

Sabbath let out a quiet sigh as the silence in the room stretched on. The stranger remained standing and kept his eyes on the doorway, occasionally checking his watch. _'I wonder what he wants,'_ she thought nervously. _'If this is about what happened between me and his daughter at the mall, than why does he want the whole team here? Did I really make such a bad impression that he's come here to shut the whole thing down? No, he wouldn't do that, would he? Even if he does work for the mayor or whatever, what guy would shut down an entire branch of…well, technically, law enforcement. Why would he go through so much trouble just because his daughter went crying to him? And what kind of person goes crying to her dad when someone bumps into her at the mall?!_' Sabbath's anger was starting to ignite in spite of her nerves as she started to imagine the possibility of the Teen Titans being disbanded. _'And it would all be because of that stupid, rotten, snobby daddy's girl! If I ever see her again I swear-'_

Thankfully, the doors to the main room whooshed open once again, interrupting Sabbath's dark train of thought. In burst Cyborg, followed by a meek and cautious Beast Boy. Unlike the changeling, Cyborg seemed to not notice the tense atmosphere in the room, or if he did he ignored it.

"What up party people!" He called cheerfully from the doorway. No response was given, and the stranger didn't even seem fazed. He kept his same expression of bored indignation firmly in place, but Cyborg didn't give up. Beast Boy was at his side, desperately trying to subdue the robot boy, but it was no use. Sabbath could tell that Cyborg was trying his best to lighten the mood. "Hey, welcome to Titans Tower!" he said as he approached the stranger. He smiled as he continued on, "Hope you didn't have any trouble findin' the place. My name's Cyb-"

"If you've quite finished," the man said at last, cutting Cyborg off mid-sentence as he had done to Robin. "I have already wasted more than enough time here. Have a seat with the rest so I may say what I have come here to say and be done with it. Although why the unwelcome role of truancy officer has been thrust upon someone in my position I cannot begin to fathom…"

Cyborg seemed shocked by the man's rudeness, and even though he towered over the stranger by at least a foot, the robot boy retreated towards the bench without a word, an equally silent Beast Boy in tow. Robin, however, was now sitting on the edge of his seat, giving the stranger his full attention.

"Did you say 'truancy officer'?" Robin asked, his hands now clutching the edge of the bench seat at his sides.

"I did indeed," the man replied, turning his icy green eyes to the Boy Wonder. "But if it's alright with you, I believe it's polite to start with introductions." He paused, as if waiting for Robin to argue with him.

_'Where the hell does he get off talking about manners?!_ _This guy's been nothing but rude since the second he got here!' _Sabbath thought, her hands clenching into fists in her lap. _'Like father like daughter!'_

Robin said nothing, though Sabbath had a feeling he was thinking of a few comments. After a brief silence, the stranger cleared his throat and continued. "I am First Deputy Mayor, Henry Kyne. It has recently come to our attention that the local group of teenagers known as the 'Teen Titans' has no record of having attended any kind of schooling and are each in clear violation of the law." He then paused, as if for dramatic effect, or maybe to let the facts sink in before he continued.

"So you're the mayor of Jump City?!" Beast Boy said incredulously.

"He's more like the vice mayor," Cyborg said absently, all humor gone from his voice as the shock of what he'd just heard began to set in.

"There's been some mistake," Robin said at last. "The Teen Titans have been fighting crime in Jump City for years!"

"Regardless," Kyne continued, a smug smile beginning to creep onto his face. "The mayor requests your presence in his office this afternoon at 2pm sharp to discuss your immediate reinstatement in the public school system."

Sabbath's mouth hung open. This was worse than getting the Teen Titans shut down. _'I knew this superhero gig was too good to be true!'_ she thought. So it was a coincidence that that mall girl's father showed up a day after their argument. _'Or maybe it's not…What are the odds of that happening? I don't know how she did it, but this is all her fault!" _Sabbath's temper was beginning to rise. The pot on the stove boiled over in response, but she barely noticed. At last she said, "But I've always gone to school!"

Henry Kyne turned to face Sabbath. He paused for a moment and studied her, as if trying to remember her name. "There are no records of a 'Jane Hellingsworth' your age having attended any kind of schooling," he replied firmly.

Sabbath wasn't sure how to respond to that. She could tell him her real name, and all the other names her academic records might be filed under, but that would open up a giant can of awkward worms that she wasn't ready to face just yet. Her forearms burned as a reminder to keep quiet. So instead she merely crossed her arms and hunched down in her seat, accepting her fate.

"Raven and I were homeschooled," Robin said defensively.

"As was I," Starfire added. "My Kan'orfka completed my teachings long before I came to Earth."

"And the Doom Patrol taught me everything I know!" Beast Boy cried.

Raven lowered her book and turned her attention to the shape shifter. "That might not be saying a lot," she said, but even Cyborg didn't laugh.

He'd been uncharacteristically quiet since Mr. Kyne mentioned school. Sabbath wondered if the robot boy had been in school before. _'Maybe he wasn't always the Cyborg we know now…'_

"The state has now determined homeschooling to be insufficient," Mr. Kyne continued stiffly, "Especially that received on other planets. You will all be reinstated in the public school system this fall and complete your education like all the other children of Jump City. You are no longer above the law."

"But this can't be right!" Robin countered. "I know the mayor personally. He helped get this team started and-"

"Any further questions are to be taken up with the mayor himself," Mr. Kyne said. "That is all."

The Titans were silent, nobody knowing what to say next.

After a moment, Mr. Kyne added "Do not concern yourselves with showing me the door, I know the way out." With that, he turned headed towards the main doors. As he tapped the control panel he paused. "Do not be tardy to your appointment," he shot darkly over his shoulder without looking back. Then he disappeared into the hallway and the doors slid shut softly behind him, leaving the Titans in a shocked silence.


	22. Chapter 21: Surprises

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 21

A/N: This is Chapter 21 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )  
>PS. Alright, it's been bugging me for 21 chapters. Is "shapeshifter" one or two words? Or is it hyphenated? It looks right to me as one word, but Microsoft Word thinks it should be two, and the internet thinks it should be hyphenated. I think I've used it all three ways, but I figured I'd put it out to you all, since you're the ones reading it. One word? Two? Or Hyphenated?<p>

The ride to city hall was uncomfortable, to say the least. Cyborg drove the T-car with none of his usual enthusiasm. He didn't say a word the whole way there and kept his eyes on the road, an unreadable expression on his face. Robin sat in the passenger seat with his arms crossed and stared out the window, his eyes narrowed in a look of either deep thought or frustration, Sabbath couldn't tell which. Raven sat behind Cyborg, still entrenched in the pages of her book. Starfire was the only one who dared any attempt at breaking the tense silence in the car.

"Perhaps there has been an error," she said cheerfully, leaning forward in her seat between Raven and Sabbath. "Or perhaps it will be fun! I have always wanted to see what the schooling is like on other planets."

The alien girl kept up her relentless pep talk all the way to City Hall. Sabbath ignored her as she leaned against her window, watching the city fly by. It was a bright, sunny day, and the citizens of Jump City seemed as cheerful as ever. Meanwhile, Sabbath's mind was a dark maelstrom of anger, guilt, and disappointment in spite of the green kitten in her lap. Everything had gone so wrong so quickly. Her time as a Titan was about to be over as quickly as it had started, and the more she thought it over, tried to see what she could have done differently, the worse she felt. Her powers churned through her veins in response. Reining them in felt like holding back vomit, adding to her discomfort. Yet the sun continued to shine down on the bustling city streets, regardless.

At last they pulled into the parking lot in front of City Hall, a black cloud of misery hanging over them all (except Starfire, who was still doing her best to add cheer to the situation). Robin paused at the main desk to scribble something on a clip board before continuing on. He ignored the secretary's offer of directions, and silently led the rest of the team down a series of hallways to an elevator. He tapped a button inside the car without a hint of hesitation and stood moodily by the doors as the floors slowly dinged by. _'Guess he's been here before…'_ Sabbath noted.

After what felt like an eternity, the elevator announced its arrival at the 4th floor. The sleekmetal doors slid open with a soft *_ping!*_, revealing a wide, marble hallway. The Titans' echoing footsteps were the only sound, as even Starfire had given up talking by now. They passed a few blank, white doors before the hallway opened into a large reception area. In the center of the far wall was a set of massive, wooden double doors, which looked out of place in an otherwise contemporary setting. To the right of the doors was a wide, round white desk which housed a flat-screened computer, a sleek black phone, and nothing else. A young blond woman sat behind the desk, her fingers quietly clicking away at the computer's keyboard. She wore a light pink suit jacket over a conservative white blouse that buttoned half way up her neck.

When she heard the Titans approaching, she turned from her computer screen to greet them. Looking over her thin glasses at them in a way that made her seem much older than she was, she said, "You must be Mr. Howard's 2 o'clock. You are early. Please have a seat and I will notify him of your arrival." Her voice was quiet, yet she managed to achieve an air of authoritative professionalism. She gestured to the many chairs grouped in the corner opposite her desk before returning her attention to her desk, her typing once again echoing off the marble floor in the otherwise silent room.

The Titans retreated to the sitting area. The furniture was simple and modern, made of polished aluminum and upholstered in plain white, was arranged in a wide semi-circle with all backs to the corner around a low, glass and aluminum coffee table. A small, exotic looking potted plant sat in the very center of the table, and much larger ones filled the corner behind the chairs.

As seemed to be his habit, Robin took the chair in the middle, leaving the others to fill in the seats around him. The way he sat down caused his cape to flare up behind him dramatically in spite of his stone-serious expression, but Sabbath couldn't find the breath to laugh. She'd never met anyone as official as the mayor of a city before, and she couldn't have felt more out of place. Everything around her gleamed immaculately, a bright contrast to the Tower's grey color scheme and lived-in clutter she'd grown accustomed to. She hadn't seen a lot of people in this building, but the few she had made her feel incredibly under-dressed. She looked at the secretary, then down at her own hoodie and boots. Hunching down in her chair, she pulled the sweatshirt tighter around her shoulders and looked at the rest of the team, wondering if they felt the same.

Robin crossed his arms and stared at the plant on the table as if it were withholding vital information from him and would spill all its secrets if he just glared at it long enough. Beast Boy bounced his feet under his chair, and Sabbath wondered if staying still and quiet was bothering him as much as the suspense of meeting the mayor. Starfire, who had taken a seat next to Robin, looked like she was trying to think of something to say to the Boy Wonder to cheer him up, but was for once coming up empty. Raven's hood was still up, leaving her face partially in shadow and totally unreadable. Cyborg was busy tapping at a computer panel on his arm, but from where Sabbath sat she couldn't see exactly what he was doing. Still, despite their silence, the six Titans stood out like sore thumbs. Their brightly colored clothing glared in contrast with the bright, white theme of the room.

Sabbath chewed anxiously on a fingernail as she lost herself in her thoughts. The anger and guilt she'd felt earlier was now overlaid by a heavy sense of uncertainty and impending doom. That and the sterile silence of the room was bringing back uncomfortable memories. She couldn't remember having felt this way since she was thirteen, the night she and Dawn had sat in the waiting room of the hospital, the night they'd been taken away from the Collins. The tense waiting, the sense of separation and powerlessness, not having a clue what would come next. This time, however, Sabbath didn't even have Dawn by her side. The chair next to her remained empty, and even though she knew the Titans were in the room with her, she couldn't have felt more alone. _'Maybe this is the end of the Titans,'_ she thought. _'But now I don't have anywhere left to go. Maybe Dawn had the right idea years ago; maybe it's time I ran away and found my own place in the world…'_

"Hey," Beast Boy whispered, his voice alarmingly close to her ear and his hand on her arm.

Sabbath nearly jumped out of her seat. In the chair next to her that had been empty moments ago now sat a concerned looking shapeshifter. To have him suddenly so close jarred her mental train way off track, and for a second her mind went completely blank, leaving her extra aware of his gloved hand on her sleeve. After she took a moment to catch her breath and calm her heart, she managed a weak, "Hey...what's up?"

"What's wrong, you ok?" he asked quietly, his wide puppy-dog eyes searching her face for something he apparently wasn't finding.

"Well, I don't think any of us is all that thrilled to be here," she replied, trying to keep her voice down as well. It seemed that anything above a whisper echoed blaringly through the room.

"Yeah, but…" he trailed off, shooting a concerned glance over her shoulder before returning his gaze to hers.

Sabbath didn't get a chance to ask him what he was looking at, because just then the secretary spoke up. "Mr. Howard will see you now." She spoke in a normal voice, but it echoed through the room as if she'd announced it on a loud speaker. With that she got up and stood by one of the massive double doors that led into the mayor's office, ready to open it for them.

Robin stood up and strode towards the office, the rest of the Titans following suit. Beast Boy shot one more glance over Sabbath's shoulder before hopping out of his seat to catch up with the others. Sabbath raised an eyebrow, but the green boy was now halfway across the room. Sabbath stood up and turned around to see what he was looking at. "…Oh," she breathed with surprise. The large potted fern plant behind her that had been frilly and green when they'd walked in was now wilted, shriveled, and quickly turning brown. She reached out a hesitant hand, wondering if she could undo the damage she'd caused, but before she could touch a single leaf the secretary cleared her throat sharply. Sabbath whipped around to realize everyone else was standing by the double doors to the mayor's office, apparently waiting for her. "Sorry," she muttered as she reached the group, her eyes glued to the floor.

The secretary opened the doors, announced, "The Teen Titans are here to see you, sir," and stood by one open door as the Titans entered the room.

To Sabbath's surprise, the mayor's office greatly contrasted the waiting room. The office was large, but whereas the waiting room had been sparse and open, this one was full of generous, overstuffed chairs and had a large window behind a massive, mahogany desk that allowed natural sunlight to pour in and warm the place instead of the cold, white glare the chandeliers and fluorescents had offered throughout the rest of the building. Instead of marble floors, a rich red carpet lined the room wall to wall. Sturdy, wooden bookcases echoing the design of the desk lined the walls and were perfectly filled with cloth-bound and leather-bound books sporting titles like "Jump City Press, 1870-1880," and "Jump City Economics: Early Stages." The mayor had a vast collection of history books and city records, which Sabbath figured was fitting. Upon his desk was a gold bank lamp, a hefty crystal pen holder, a sleek, black computer (which looked ridiculously out of place), and a number of antique-looking trinkets. Behind the desk was a regal leather chair, its back to the Titans. The room smelled faintly of cigar smoke, but that wasn't what caused Sabbath to hold her breath as the chair slowly turned around. She braced herself for the worst, and expected the rest of the Titans were doing the same.

"Robin, my boy!" boomed the man in the chair as he faced them at last. Mayor Howard was a large, wide man in a brown, pinstriped three-piece suit with a dark red tie that matched the carpet. His hair was greying and receding, but it somehow suited him perfectly. He stood up and came around the desk to greet the Titans. "Just the man I wanted to see," he continued, clapping a heavy arm around Robin's shoulders and mussing the boy's hair with his other hand. "And you brought the rest of the gang! Excellent! Come in, come in," he said, keeping one arm around Robin as he gestured to the chairs in the room. The Titans shifted uncomfortably, all of them visibly thrown for a loop except Robin, who seemed more embarrassed than anything else. Only then did the mayor seem to notice his secretary, who was still holding one of the doors open. With a much more serious tone he said to her, "Thank you Celeste, that will be all," before turning his attention back to the Titans.

"Yes, sir," Celeste said, bowing her head slightly as she left the room, closing the doors behind her.

"Well now," the mayor said, finally releasing his grip on Robin and reclaiming his seat behind the desk. Robin waited until the man's back was turned to quickly reach up and restore his hair to its former, spiky glory. Starfire let out a small giggle, and the boy's ears reddened though his expression remained neutral. When the mayor was once again seated he noticed that the teens were all still standing. "Have a seat!" he insisted. "Make yourselves comfortable!" He reached for an elegant wooden box on his desk and opened it towards them. "Cigar?" He waited a minute for their response, and when none came he laughed at his own joke. "Haha! I'm just kidding. You're still too young, you wouldn't appreciate these old things," He said, closing the box and returning it to his desk. Then he began shuffling through his desk's drawers as he mumbled, "But I think I still have some lollipops in here somewhere…"

"That's okay, Mayor," Robin said at last, taking the chair directly in front of the mayor's desk. "You wanted to talk to us about something?" The way he said it indicated he already knew the answer, and didn't like it, but knew it had to be said anyway.

The sound of their leader's voice seemed to finally snap the rest of the Titans out of their shock. Starfire hovered over and took the seat to Robin's left, and Cyborg took the one on her other side. Beast Boy jumped into the chair to Robin's right, and Sabbath took the one next to him, leaving Raven to fill the seat on the end.

"That I do, son," the mayor said, a grim tone creeping into his voice as he returned his attention to the Titans. "That I do…" He folded his hands on the desk in front of him and gave each Titan a lengthy, serious stare. When he landed on Sabbath's face, however, he paused. Sabbath could see the wheels in his head turning as he studied her. Then a light went on in his eyes and he said, "Ah! You're the new girl I heard about! The new recruit! Jenny, was it?"

Sabbath cleared her throat quietly to ensure her voice wouldn't squeak before replying, "It's Jane, actually…sir," She brushed an imaginary lock of hair out of her eyes before meeting his gaze. She knew she was going to be in trouble, she just had to be, especially if he'd heard about her in particular. She waited for the verbal assault.

"Jane! That's right," he said, glancing down at a small stack of papers on his desk. "Can't read my own writing…"

Sabbath flinched. _'He has a file on me! I'm so dead! He knows everything and the Titans are going to find out everything and-'_

"Well! Jane, welcome to Jump City!" he said, a cheerful smile once again on his face. "And more importantly, welcome to the Teen Titans! You ready for your first big mission?"

"Mission…?" she replied, now thoroughly confused.

"That's right! I'm sure my friend Mr. Kyne briefed you all already, but that was just the basics. Take that jacket off and stay awhile, kiddo, we've got a lot to talk about. This is a big one for the whole team," the mayor said.

Robin cleared his throat to get the mayor's attention before beginning, "Yes, he said you want us to start attending school?"

"Well, that's the cover," the mayor replied, turning his attention to the Boy Wonder. "But really you're gonna act as my eyes and ears in that high school. You see, we've got a problem…"

"A problem?" Robin echoed, sounding as confused as Sabbath –and probably the rest of the Titans– felt.

"A big one," Mayor Howard confirmed, leaning back in his chair. "Have you ever heard of an organization known as the Hive?"

"Yes, and we've dealt with them on numerous occasions," Robin said a little defensively. Sabbath noticed that Cyborg was now paying especially close attention.

"Well we received an anonymous tip that the Hive's planning to infiltrate a local high school. They seem to have gotten ahold of some advanced camouflage technology." With that, the mayor produced a small blueprint from his stack of papers.

Sabbath studied the paper he held up, but despite her best efforts she couldn't figure out what it was. She was still trying to figure out who the Hive was. The rest of the Titans looked at the paper, too, but no one seemed to be making any more sense of it. Suddenly, Cyborg's face flashed with recognition and he cried out, "They stole my tech! _Again!_ That's _my_ advanced camouflage technology!"

"Wait, is that….?" Robin leaned forward and squinted at the blueprint, as if not believing his eyes.

"Yeah! That's the same exact design I created when I went undercover at Hive Academy! But how did they-?"

"They must've managed to reverse engineer their own prototype…" Robin said

"And apparently it works," the mayor said, replacing the blueprint in the pile of papers. "And now _they're_ using it to go undercover at one of _our_ schools."

"But why?" Robin puzzled. "What could they possibly hope to find in a high school?"

"New recruits," the mayor replied. "Or, more likely, dumb kids they can trick into robbing Mini Marts for them or doing whatever it is the Hive does."

"And you want us to go undercover at the high school, too," Robin said as he slowly began piecing things together.

"To fish out the Hive," Cyborg finished, a serious, determined expression on his face.

"That's about the gist of it," the mayor said. "Think you can all handle that?"

"Of course," Robin replied, always eager for a challenge. "We're just a little confused. Mr. Kyne told us you wanted us to go back to school to complete our education…"

"And that our homeschooling was deemed insufficient by current standards," Starfire added.

The mayor boomed with laughter. "I imagine he was just having a bit of fun at your expense, good old Kyne. That sounds like something he'd say!" the mayor laughed again. "Rob, you know better than anyone that the Teen Titans are legally emancipated minors. Not to mention you're technically state employees."

Sabbath breathed a sigh of relief. _'Not only are we not in trouble, but I never have to go into foster care again!'_ She smiled as a huge weight lifted from her shoulders, and she started looking at the situation with fresh eyes. _'And this mission sounds like a piece of cake! Undercover at a high school? Could it get any easier?'_

The mayor noticed the looks of relief on the Titans faces and laughed again. "Haha! Kyne had you going, did he?"

"A little bit," Robin replied with a shaky laugh and what was probably supposed to be a smile.

There was a lull in the conversation, and since no one had asked yet, Sabbath took it upon herself. "So which high school is it? The private one?"

"No, no," the mayor replied. "Guess the Hive doesn't want to get on the bad side of anyone with connections. Either that or they know those kids all have too much money to want to stoop to committing petty crimes."

"So then they're going with the cheap, public one," Beast Boy said with a hint of dread that echoed what Sabbath felt. He glanced at her knowingly, but she was too shocked to notice.

Sabbath's mood changed instantly as her mental train came to a squealing halt in its happy tracks. She could almost see the cars skidding and crashing into each other, each car dragging down the next like dominoes. The one thing she hadn't planned on was having to go back to that stupid excuse for a high school. As Sabbath's mind began to run through every worst case scenario she'd prepared herself for and compared them to the one at hand, there was an elegant glass wine decanter sitting on the corner of the mayor's desk, the contents of which suddenly froze solid and cracked the glass loud enough to draw everyone's attention.

"Raven," the mayor said, turning his surprised gaze on the cloaked girl. "Didn't we talk about using our words?"

"…Don't look at me," Raven muttered, somewhat embarrassed, as she shot an accusatory glance at Sabbath.

The mayor followed her gaze to Sabbath, then looked more closely at the cracked decanter. "Well I'll be…" he said incredulously. "It's frozen solid!" He tapped at it with a pen, and a dull _'tink'_ verified his words.

Sabbath grimaced as the sound echoed through the room and brought her out of her dizzying thoughts. She wished she could disappear altogether into the plush fabric of her chair, if only to avoid the awkward looks turning her way. "I'm sorry," she said at last. "I really didn't mean to, it was a total accident. But I'll thaw it out right now! Let me just-"

"Slow down," the mayor said, making calming gestures. "It's alright. Eighteenth century Turkish decanters aren't exactly easy to come by, but I know a glazier in town who owes me a favor. Easy fix," he concluded with a lighthearted wink.

Sabbath sunk down in her seat, feeling even more uncomfortable than when she'd walked in. _'What is wrong with me today?'_ she wondered. Uncharacteristic meekness was one thing, but her powers were definitely getting out of hand. As if in response to her question, the marks on her forearms burned, and she heard an all too familiar voice whisper a single word in her ear, _'__Practice__…'_ Sabbath hugged her arms around herself in an effort to soothe the stinging, and she realized what was wrong. _'I guess it has been a while,' _she thought. _'There hasn't been a lot of crime in the city lately and I've been so busy getting used to life in the Tower that I guess I forgot.'_ She was surprised she'd been allowed to sleep so soundly over the past few nights. _'But that'll have to change. I'll make time to get away for an hour or two this afternoon and get some practice in. I can worry about the rest of this later.'_

"…any other concerns?" the mayor concluded. Sabbath hadn't heard the rest of the meeting, but the stack of papers from the mayor's desk was now gone, Robin had a large manila folder in one hand and was standing to extend the other towards the mayor.

"That about covers it," Robin said, shaking the mayor's hand. "We won't let you down."

"I know you won't, lad," the mayor replied, standing up as well. "Ah! Just a minute," he said, seeming to have remembered something. He bent down suddenly and began digging through one of the drawers in his desk. When he stood up again he was holding an opened bag of lollipops. "I knew I'd remember where I put the silly things," he said proudly. He reached in the bag and produced a red lollipop and handed it to the Boy Wonder.

Sabbath could see him mentally shifting gears before taking the candy with a small smile. "Thanks, Mayor. I'll report in as soon as I find something," Robin said, still making an effort to remain professional.

"Keep me in the loop!" the mayor said cheerfully as he continued handing out lollipops. "…for Cy, green for Gar-I mean Beast Boy, strawberry for Miss Starfire, raspberry for Rae-Rae, and…" he paused when he got to Sabbath. "What would you like, Jane?" he asked her. "I have all kinds! Although I'm not sure I have any that start with a J…"

Sabbath paused, taken aback by his casual, paternal manner and still embarrassed about the wine bottle. At last she managed to reply, "Um, I guess orange?"

"The color or the flavor?" the mayor asked, and upon seeing her confused expression, burst out laughing. "I'm just kidding! Here you go, dear," he said, fishing an orange lollipop out of the bag.

"Thanks…" Sabbath replied.

Just then, the double doors to the office creaked open, held by Celeste the secretary, as if she had predicted the exact moment they would want to leave. Behind her sulked Mr. Kyne.

"Thank you, Celeste!" the mayor called as he walked the Titans out of his office.

"Mr. Howard, your three o'clock has arrived," Celeste said.

"Ah, Henry, my good man!" boomed the mayor, clapping a firm hand down on Mr. Kyne's thin shoulder. "Glad you could stop by!"

"Always, sir," Mr. Kyne said, a look of mild distaste on his face and a cold glare in his eyes as he watched the Titans walk out of the office. The mayor, however, seemed ignorant of his companion's sour disposition and continued to prattle on cheerfully as Celeste closed the doors behind them and returned to her desk.

The atmosphere was quiet once again, Celeste's quick typing echoing softly. As the Titans made their way to the elevator, however, their moods had all lightened considerably. Cyborg grinned, lollipop in hand, and said, "Man, that Mr. Kyne really had us goin'!"

"And I'd forgotten how cool the mayor is," Beast Boy said, grinning around his own lollipop stick and resting his hands behind his head.

"He is most delightful," Starfire agreed, hovering happily beside Robin.

"Wish I could say the same about his friend," Raven said, reminding every one of the gloomy visitor they'd had hours before.

"I admit Mr. Kyne isn't our biggest fan," Robin replied, leading the way to the exit. "But that doesn't matter. Right now we have to get ready for this assignment."

Sabbath's mind wandered on the car ride back to the Tower. What would it be like going to high school undercover? Would her classmates recognize her? She had gone to that same school the last six weeks of the year, but maybe that wasn't enough time for anyone to really remember her. She hoped not, anyway. But more importantly, what would it be like going to high school undercover with the Titans? They'd have to make a real effort to blend in.

Suddenly, breaking into her train of thought, the marks on her arm started to burn again, this time with more urgency. _'Right,'_ she reminded herself. _'First things first.'_ She could feel her powers boiling beneath the surface, desperate to burst free, and her control close to slipping again. _'Plenty of time to save the world _after _I blow off some steam in the city dump.'_


	23. Chapter 22: New Challenges

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 22

A/N: This is Chapter 22 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

PS. I uploaded two chapters at once this time, so make sure you read chapter 21 before this one! I noticed it wasn't getting as many views as this one. This chapter's really short, I know. I'm sorry. Next one's long, though, so bear with me! :D

Sabbath felt a lot better after her practice session. She'd been on edge all day, especially after that ordeal with the mayor and his creepy friend. She didn't even remember what excuse she told the Titans to get away for a little while. When she landed in the dump she barely paused to catch her breath and gather her focus. She'd just let out a raw burst of power, blowing a small crater in the earth and leaving the air sizzling as if from a lightning strike. Her control had been rough at first, but after the first hour she was back on top of things. She spent another hour or so practicing the routine stuff and carefully testing her limits. She was a little tired when she got back to the tower, but it was a good kind of tired.

By the time she got out of the shower, she could only feel remnants of the adrenaline that had been rushing through her veins, but the hot water had woken her up and now she felt like her old self again. Her energy was still singing just below the surface, making her feel strong and unstoppable, ready to take on the Hive, that rich mall rat, anything. Even the latest mission assignment didn't scare her. She'd go into that high school, drag out the Hive agents, and personally hand-deliver them to the Mayor before the week was through. She actually found herself smiling as she made her way to the main room of the Tower, but her smile faded as the doors slid open to reveal chaos.

"I said the mask _stays."_

"But I'm tellin' you man, that ain't gonna go down so well at a high school. Plus it's a dead giveaway!"

"And why is my attire unacceptable for this mission?"

"No one in this city has clothes like that. You have to dress like everyone else! And Rae, Rob, I'm lookin' at you when I say NO CAPES!"

"Should our academic performance not matter more than our outward appearance?"

"Star, for the last time, we're just PRETENDING to be students! Our main goal is to blend in!"

"Dude, I am NOT wearing make-up!"

"How else do you expect to hide the fact that you're GREEN?! You gonna go as the mascot?"

"That's an awesome idea!"

Sabbath stood in the doorway, shocked by the pandemonium. The Titans definitely hadn't been arguing when she left. They'd been talking about what to do for lunch. Had she really been gone that long?

"Um, what's going on?" Sabbath finally said when there was a pause in the argument.

"Jane, back me up on this! Tell these guys there's no way they'll fit in at a high school the way they are now."

"This isn't some kind of fashion show, Cyborg," Robin replied. "We're not doing this for fun, or to see if we can get the popular kids to like us. Our main objective is to find the Hive and report information to the Mayor."

"And how do you expect to do that in a cape and a mask? Weren't you tutored in a cave? You wouldn't know the first thing about high school!"

"Remind me again of how long it's been since _you_ were in high school? You wouldn't know any more than the rest of us! So stop acting like-"

Sabbath could tell buttons were being pushed and nerves were being struck, so she chose that moment to butt in before things got any uglier. "Actually," she said, raising her voice slightly to be heard over the insults being thrown left and right, "Cyborg's right." The Titans paused in their arguing, finally turning their attention to Sabbath as if they'd only just noticed her presence.

"I've gone to school my whole life," she continued. "I even went to the same high school we've been assigned to. And I can tell you right now, we're all going to need to change our appearance if this is going to work. If we're recognized as anything other than students, the whole mission is blown and we'll have failed the Mayor." She was amazed that this wasn't obvious to them. "We don't have to invest in the latest fashions, but we do need to dress like normal, everyday teenagers." Then, as she looked more closely at her fellow Titans, added, "Which might be hard to pull off…"

"That's exactly what I've been sayin', y'all," Cyborg said, sounding a little calmer now. "I was in high school for a whole year. I know what to expect."

"Plus, there's only one week left before the school year starts," Sabbath added. "So we're going to have to start figuring out what we're going to do and fast if we want to be ready in time."

After a few more minutes of talking things through more rationally, it was decided that since Cyborg and Sabbath were the only ones who'd actually ever been to public high schools, they'd be in charge of arranging disguises. The Titans then split up into two groups; Sabbath with Starfire and Raven, and Cyborg with robin and Beast Boy.

Sabbath looked at her assignments; an orange alien and a sullen individualist. _'This is going to be harder than I thought…'_ Then she looked over at Cyborgs group – a green shape shifter and a stubborn ninja – and realized the robot boy had his work cut out for him as well. "Good luck," she said to Cyborg, trying desperately to regain that unstoppable confidence she'd had moments ago.

"You, too," he replied. And with that the two teams ventured out into the city.


	24. Chapter 23: A Familiar Face

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 23

A/N: This is Chapter 23 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

PS. I just want to take a minute to tell you guys about a book called Horns by Joe Hill (Stephen King's brother?!). No, it has nothing to do with the Teen Titans, but it's every definition of awesome and it's been turned into a movie starring Daniel Radcliffe that's hitting theaters this Halloween. It's pretty dark, but wonderfully so. Check it out, or at least watch the movie trailers, you won't be disappointed! :D Okay, now on with the story…

Sabbath yawned. She'd forgotten how painful it was getting up for school in the morning. It still felt like summer, but she supposed it always did here on the west coast. With a resigned sigh, she heaved herself out of bed and stalked across the room to her window. Opening the shades she was nearly blinded by the early morning sunlight reflecting off the ocean, but as her vision cleared she saw the city glittering beyond the shore, and could tell just from looking that it was already getting hot. With a grumble, she yanked the shades shut. She walked over to her dresser and started rummaging for her straightener before she remembered she didn't need it as of today. Instead, she took a brush to the tangled mass and wrangled it into an angry, frizzy braid. She quickly wrapped a length of elastic bandage around her torso to conceal her wings, spread concealer across the marks on her forearms, threw on one of her new, casual outfits (simple shorts, a t-shirt, and some converse sneakers), and put on her fake glasses for a final touch. It wasn't something she normally would have worn, but that was the point.

Picking up her new backpack and slinging it over one shoulder, Sabbath opened her closet to examine herself in the mirror that hung on the door. "The Superman effect," she muttered, though it wasn't as funny as it had been when she'd first come up with the ensemble. She stared at the stranger in the glass, who gawked back with equal surprise. She barely recognized herself. The girl in the mirror looked dull, plain, nothing at all like Sabbath. Nothing at all like a Titan. '_Perfect_.' Irritably fighting back another yawn, she slammed her closet shut, tapped the control panel by her door, and headed out to the Tower's living room to meet up with the rest of the Titans.

When the doors to the main room slid open, she could tell with a simple headcount that she was the last one there, but she barely recognized the other faces in the room, and wondered for a minute if these people really were her teammates.

"Oh good, you're up," said a dark haired boy with large sunglasses and a red-tipped cane.

A girl with short brown hair wearing a navy blue beret and matching wool poncho sat on the end of the couch, and upon hearing the boy's voice, her attention was momentarily drawn away from the pages of her book. She glared at Sabbath for the briefest of seconds before turning away and reaching for the steaming mug on the table in front of her.

"Yes, we were just about to awaken you," agreed a girl with long blond hair and orange skin that looked like a bad fake tan. Dramatic eye make-up accentuated her bright blue eyes, and tacky earrings jingled lightly against her neck as she continued, "We musn't be late on the first day of educating!"

"You almost missed breakfast," said a tall, bald, dark-skinned boy in a football jersey who was currently manning the waffle iron in the kitchen. "But there's always time for waffles!" he added, turning a smile her way that was almost too bright and cheerful for so early in the morning.

"But make it fast," the blind boy said sternly. "We leave here in fifteen minutes."

"Don't worry, we won't leave without you," said a familiar voice from somewhere behind her. "Robin's just cranky we made him ditch his cape."

Sabbath turned and felt a conflicted mix of emotions well up when she saw who was talking to her. It sounded like Beast Boy, but the boy standing before her now was a stranger. He had white skin with a slight tan, brown hair with bleached tips that slumped down over his ears and forehead, and was dressed in baggy camo pants, black and green skate shoes, a gray and black t-shirt over a long-sleeved purple one, and black, fingerless gloves. His eyes were no longer a familiar deep emerald, but a dark brown that nearly matched her own. The only thing she recognized was his smile.

Sabbath felt like she'd walked into an alternate universe. These people sounded like the Titans, acted like the Titans, but looked nothing at all like her friends. It was off-putting, to say the least. Yet something about Beast Boy's new appearance still made her breath hitch in her chest. It took her longer than it should have to find her voice, but finally she said, "Wow, you guys look terrific!"

"Don't they though?" Cyborg said with almost paternal pride as he skillfully removed the waffles from the waffle iron. Placing them on a plate he added, "order up!" and dinged an imaginary bell with his fork.

"Do we really resemble the normal Earth adolescents?" Starfire asked hopefully, clasping her French-manicured hands tightly.

"Definitely," Sabbath replied, looking from Titan to Titan, admiring their disguises. She'd been worried they wouldn't be able to pull it off, but looking at them now, you'd never know they were superheroes. There was no disguising their voices and mannerisms, but Sabbath knew that didn't matter; all that mattered in high school was looks.

Robin glanced anxiously at a clunky black watch on his wrist –a habit he'd have to ditch if people were to believe he was blind– and said to Sabbath, "You'd better take those waffles to go, the warning bell rings in seven minutes!"

"You know nobody listens to the warning bell, right?" Sabbath replied, walking over to Cyborg and wrapping the freshly made waffles in a paper towel. "That it means there're still three minutes until classes start? And five minutes before you're officially late? As long as you're in class by the tardy bell you're fine."

Robin pretended not to hear her and continued, "Alright Titans, remember why we're doing this. Our goal is to blend in as seamlessly as possible and gather intel to report back to the mayor. If you find a Hive agent, don't approach them. No matter what, don't blow your cover. We have to make absolutely sure before we take any action. You have your schedules and alias information. We regroup in the cafeteria at the second lunch period. Any questions?" He paused for a second before finishing, "Okay. Titans, GO!"

The excitement in the air was almost tangible as everyone picked up their bags and rushed out the door. Well, everyone except Raven.

"Aren't you coming?" Sabbath asked her, wondering why the girl hadn't even closed her book.

"I'll meet you there," she replied flatly, keeping her eyes on her book and gesturing towards the door with her mug.

Sabbath just shrugged, hitched her bag up higher on her shoulder, and ran to catch up with the others. Only when they'd made it down to the garage did she understand the reason behind Raven's staying behind. There were only five available seats in the T-Car –which had been painted a nondescript grey and had a new, yellow sticker on the back window with "Senior Parking Pass" printed on it in bold black letters– including the driver's seat. A supposedly blind boy couldn't roll up on a motorcycle, and any flying or shapeshifting would be a dead giveaway, too. _'And since Raven's the only one who can teleport somewhere nearby without being noticed, I guess it makes sense,'_ Sabbath thought as she slid into the back seat between Starfire and Beast Boy. Then the burden of thinking so early in the morning made her head hurt, so she cleared her mind and refocused on the day ahead, which wasn't much better. The other Titans were excited about going to school, but only because they'd never been before. Sabbath had been plenty, and even though she'd even been to this particular school before, she was once again starting the school year as The New Girl.

She sighed, irritably picking at her waffles-to-go as she mentally prepared for the same old scenes she knew would play out today. She could hear the teachers in her head already.

_'We have a new student joining us today. Her name's Sabbath Hellingsworth. Here she is, try not to hate her too much, and clap awkwardly when she finishes telling us a little about herself…'_

Sabbath paused. Her name wouldn't be Sabbath Hellingsworth this time, or even Jane. She'd been assigned a new identity for academic purposes by the mayor. _'I should probably know my own name,'_ she realized as she lifted her nearly empty backpack into her lap and traded it her bundle of waffles for the manila folder Robin had given her a few days ago. The tab said "JANE," but the paperwork inside would have her new information on it. Her name, where she was supposedly from, what her academic history was like, her class schedule, etc. She reached into the file and the first page she pulled out was her schedule, stapled to a barely-legible map of the school. She recognized the blotchy ink as having been printed out by the ancient printer in the school's main office. She remembered the screeching sound it made from the effort of grinding out a single page, the unhelpful, androgynous secretary, the hallways with no signs…It felt like forever since she'd been there, her negative experiences at the school a distant memory. In reality it had only been a few months. Sabbath couldn't believe how much had happened in such a short amount of time.

"So what classes did you get?" Beast Boy asked, suddenly leaning towards her, trying to read her schedule. He was excitedly clutching his own papers, clearly not dreading the day ahead as much as Sabbath.

She was surprised at first to find him suddenly so close, and his strange appearance jarred her train of thought off track. It was so weird to see him looking so…normal. Normally she would've found someone who looked like he did now cute, but somehow it just made her miss the real Beast Boy. But no disguise could hide the shapeshifter's eager eyes and contagious smile. Sabbath found herself smiling back as she looked back down at her schedule. "Um, looks like the basics," she replied at last. "But they put me in a mix of different year's classes," she trailed off in confusion, finally reading what was written on the page.

"The mayor doesn't know what year the Hive agents put themselves in," Robin said from the front seat, "so between the six of us we have to cover all four."

"Wow," Sabbath replied, suddenly glad that none of this was for real. Looking more closely at her schedule, she read it out loud in disbelief, "'AP Senior Science, Senior English, Freshman Math, Junior French, Freshman Science, Lunch Period 6, Senior gym, and Sophomore Spanish.' Wait, why do I have to have two science classes?!"

"It's just the way it worked out," Robin replied as if it were nothing. "It was hard enough getting us all assigned to the same lunch period."

"It's cool," Beast Boy tried to assure her, "I got two math classes. I think. What's AP mean?" He asked, pointing to the blocks in his schedule.

"It means 'advanced placement' or something; harder than a regular class," she said squinting through the fake plastic lenses of her glasses to see the shapeshifter's schedule. "Wow, you got put in a lot of AP classes."

Cyborg burst out laughing from his post behind the wheel. "B, I think you got Star's schedule by mistake!"

"He does not, mine is here," Starfire replied, sounding confused as she held up her own schedule.

Beast Boy grumbled in response, stuffing his papers back in his bag and hunching down in his seat.

A moment later Sabbath let out a giggle of her own.

"It wasn't that funny," Beast Boy groused.

"No it's not that," Sabbath assured him. "I just found my fake name!"

"Please tell us!" Starfire encouraged, beaming with excitement. "My false identification is 'Kelly Summers.'"

"That's pretty," Sabbath commented, vaguely trying to decide if the girl's name fit her disguise.

"Mine's…'Jared Richardson,'" Beast Boy said, saying it slowly as if pulling it from the farthest reaches of his memory.

"That's better than 'Tyrone DeQuan,'" Cyborg muttered, saying the name with bitter sarcasm.

Sabbath had to stifle the burst of laughter she felt coming on at how stereotypically racist Cyborg's alias was, and noticed Beast Boy doing the same.

"What about you, Robin?" Sabbath found herself asking.

"Damian Wyatt," he replied, his tone completely serious.

"That's cool," Sabbath commented. Sensing the boy wasn't too fond of his name, she tried to cheer him up. "You get a nickname, then. With your initials. DW."

He didn't reply, but Cyborg burst into hysterical laughter. He pounded the steering wheel as his laughing fit continued. He squinted his eyes in an attempt to clear the tears from them, and was barely able to wheeze out, "DW!...DW!...Oh that is _gold…!_"

The boy wonder's shoulder stiffened, and suddenly the red tip of his cane was pointed in the robot boy's face as he ordered, "Do _not_ call me that."

By now Starfire and Beast Boy were laughing, too. "I think it is most adorable!" Starfire giggled.

"So what's your new name?" Beast Boy asked, the laughter fading from his voice as he turned his attention back to Sabbath.

"Yes, please tell us!"

"It's 'Lucy,'" Sabbath replied, her voice thick with incredulity. "Lucy Bartle.' I sound so fancy…" _'And normal,'_ she added mentally.

"How lovely!" Starfire beamed

"Yeah, I like it," Beast Boy said. "But I like 'Jane' better," he added quietly.

"I don't know," Sabbath trailed off, ignoring Beast Boy's compliment as she lost herself in her thoughts. She found herself wondering how different her life would have been if she'd been Lucy Bartle the high school student instead of Sabbath Hellingsworth the cursed teen superhero. '_Probably way more boring,'_ she tried to tell herself, but the part of her that had always wanted a normal life couldn't help but wonder.

Finally, the high school came into view, and Cyborg drove around to the back to park the T-Car in the school's only parking lot. He turned the engine off, but for a moment they all just sat there, listening to the muffled din of students talking and laughing from where they stood in groups clustered around the building's entrances. The slow, monotonous ticking of the engine as it cooled counted the seconds as they passed.

"Can we really pull this off?" Cyborg asked quietly, his gaze glued to the few small groups of students who had wondered to the back of the building to sneak quick cigarettes or make out.

"We have to," Robin said, though for once he sounded unsure of himself.

"It is more massive than I had anticipated…" Starfire murmured, staring up at the ugly, concrete building.

Sabbath glared at the familiar building with resentful acknowledgement. It's wide, grimy windows stared back, almost mockingly, as if to say, 'I knew you'd be back.' Only now, with her knowledge of the criminals it was hiding, she felt the building looked twice as repulsive. Sabbath wrinkled her nose in disgust before having to stifle another yawn. Shaking her head in a futile effort to dispel her exhaustion, she thought _'The sooner we find these Hive creeps, the sooner I can get some sleep. No one should have to be awake and functional at this hour…'_ The thought did little to motivate her.

Suddenly, there was a loud tapping on the Cyborg's window. Everyone in the car jumped. There was a moment of panic before they recognized the girl standing there as Raven. She looked at them like they were idiots and tapped her wrist impatiently. Suddenly, the warning bell could be heard ringing through the parking lot. The remaining students filed into the nearest doorways and disappeared.

Robin quickly glanced down at his watch. "There goes the warning bell!" he exclaimed, a sense of urgency in his voice as he suddenly threw the passenger door open and leapt out into the parking lot.

"Bro, I made you a talking watch for a reason!" Cyborg said as he got out of the car.

Starfire was also out of the car by now, and hovered after Robin towards the front of the building to the main entrance.

"Starf-Summer!" Sabbath hissed, climbing out of the car after her.

The alien girl paused and turned around mid-air to face Sabbath. After a moment she seemed to notice the error of her ways, quickly sinking to the ground and continuing her chase on foot. She immediately ran out of her flip-flops, and had to pause to pick them up and put them back on.

Sabbath's palm hit her forehead. It was going to be a long day. With a sigh, she hitched her bag up onto her shoulder and trudged after the Titans. Her backpack seemed to grow heavier with each step she took, and as she approached the building, all the negative emotions that went along with the first day of school crashed into her. Even though it wasn't for real this time, and the circumstances were totally different, Sabbath still found herself dreading the countless hours of boring lectures, the pointless homework assignments, the crowded hallways, the uncomfortable isolation, dismissive or alienated glances from her peers, the endless tired mornings, shuffling from classroom to classroom at the ring of a bell with hundreds of other students, milling around like so many noisy, sweaty sheep…

"Hey, you ok?" Beast Boy asked, startling Sabbath out of her cloud of self pity.

"Huh? Yeah. Why?" Sabbath said, looking up into the shapeshifter's artificially colored eyes. The contacts were convincing, but she knew the deep green they concealed. "I guess I just can't get excited about this. School's not as fun as you might think," she added, looking past the shapeshifter and up the stairs to the school's main entrance, the double doors held open wide by wooden blocks. The other Titans were already standing just inside the doors, turning their maps this way and that, eager to find their way to their first classes. The hallway beyond was nearly empty now, and Sabbath knew the tardy bell would ring any minute, but she couldn't find the energy to care.

"C'mon," Beast Boy said, suddenly taking hold of her hand. He wrapped his fingers around hers and began pulling her up the stairs towards the doors. "It might not have been fun before, but this time you're with us!" he said, offering her his most encouraging smile. Then he added in a stage whisper, "Plus we've got our mission! We're secret agents!"

Despite herself, Sabbath found the boy's enthusiasm contagious. And the more she thought about it, the more she realized he was right. By the time they reached the top of the stairs, she'd found her smile again and felt ready to take on the day.

"Alright, Ti-team," Robin said softly when they were all together. "You have your assignments. Keep your eyes and ears open, but maintain a low profile. Maintain radio silence unless there's an absolute emergency. We'll regroup in the cafeteria. Any questions?" he paused.

"Um, maybe 'Summer' should walk you to your first class," Sabbath offered. The Boy Wonder arched an eyebrow in Sabbath's direction, but didn't say anything. After an awkward pause she added, "You know, your being _blind_ and all."

"Oh. Right, of course," Robin replied, seemingly thrown off by her suggestion, as well as frustrated that he hadn't thought of it to begin with. A blind kid couldn't very well waltz into class and slide into an empty desk on his own without at least drawing attention to himself.

"But no stopping for a make-out session under the bleachers you two," Cyborg teased. Beast Boy muffled a giggle fit, but the Robin didn't seem nearly as amused. He cast a disapproving scowl at the other boys, even though the tips of his ears were tinted red. He looked like he was about to say something when the tardy bell rang.

"Glorfaps, we are the tardy!" Starfire gasped.

"It's ok, really!" Sabbath tried to convince her fellow Titans as they rushed through the halls. "You're allowed to be late on your first day!" Yet even as she said it, her mind flashed back to her first day at this school. None of the teachers had been very understanding, to say the least. Especially that stupid gym coach. She vaguely wondered if they'd ever finished repairing those broken pipes.

Suddenly Sabbath spotted a door up ahead with a familiar number printed below its window. Glancing down at her schedule, she saw that, sure enough, this was her first class. _''AP Senior Science,' lucky me…' _she thought grimly. Peeking through the window she could see that class was already starting. She paused in the nearly silent hallway and turned to wave goodbye to her fellow teammates. "This is me!" she whispered. "Guess I'll catch up with you guys at lunch?"

"Yeah, we'll save you a seat!" Beast Boy stage-whispered back, turning around and briefly jogging backwards to wave goodbye to her as he continued on his way down the hall. He immediately crashed into Cyborg, who nearly stumbled in turn. Instead, he caught himself before falling over Raven, who shot him a dark look, and turned Beast Boy around by his shoulder.

"C'mon, man, watch where you're goin'!" Cyborg said.

"And hurry up, we're gonna be late!" Robin added from his position at the head of the group.

"Dude, stop running," Beast Boy replied as they rounded the corner at the end of the hall. "You're blind, remember?"

Sabbath smiled. _'Maybe this really will be better,'_ she thought, once again alone in the familiar, scuffed hallway. Her spirits lifted, she turned the handle and walked through the door into her first class.

The teacher, a young woman in a white lab coat, paused in mid-sentence and turned her attention to Sabbath. "Well, well, thank you for bothering to joining us."

Sabbath paused on her way to an empty seat near the back of the room and turned to face the teacher. She resisted the urge to arch an eyebrow at the teacher's snarky greeting. _'Lady, you're a high school science teacher, relax.'_

"And who might you be?" the teacher asked expectantly, her tone implying it should've been obvious that Sabbath was to introduce herself. Some of the students snickered quietly. By now they were all staring at Sabbath.

"Lucy," Sabbath said confidently. "Lucy Bartle."

"Well, Lucy Bartle, this class starts at the bell. Not a minute later. You'll find I'm always on time, and I expect the same of my students. It's common curtesy."

"Sorry," Sabbath muttered, heading to an empty lab bench.

The teacher cleared her throat, but didn't say anything. Sabbath turned to face her, wondering what she wanted this time.

"Please take the seat next to miss Kara," she said, gesturing to an empty seat next to a brunette in the front row. The girl was sitting at the bench by herself, even though it clearly could've sat two or three more people. Sabbath noted that the rest of the black lab benches in the room seated either two or four students. "Sorry, Kara, but it seems there's an even number of students. Looks like you'll have to work with a lab partner after all," the teacher said to the brown-haired girl. Then to Sabbath she added, "You'd do well to learn a thing or two from her, miss Lucy Bartle."

Sabbath clenched her jaw and made an effort to control her temper. This was apparently some kind of chemistry lab, and Sabbath figured there were more than a few things in the room that had strict "keep away from heat and flame" labels. But as she neared the front of the room, she began to notice something familiar about the girl she'd been assigned to work with. Sabbath squinted through her fake glasses, trying to convince herself she was wrong while everything she was seeing pointed to the contrary. The familiar cut of the girl's hair, her icy green eyes…_'it couldn't be…' _Sabbath thought, dread building in the pit of her stomach. At last she reached the lab bench, and there was no denying it. The friendly expression was different, but other than that…

"Hi, I'm Kara," the girl said quietly as the teacher continued her lecture. Kara's bright smile reflected in her eyes. "Nice to meet you, Lucy. And don't mind Ms. Maranda, she can be a little harsh sometimes, but she's really not that bad."

"Hi…" Sabbath replied, slowly sliding her bag under her chair as she sat down. Her breathe froze in her lungs. She couldn't believe it. It was the daddy's girl she'd bumped into at the mall.


	25. HALLOWEEN SPECIAL

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-HALLOWEEN SPECIAL

A/N: Two uploads in one week? What? Well, to be honest this isn't really a continuation of the story. It's the same world with the same characters, only it's kind of a one-shot. Just for fun. And I know the real story line isn't quite at Halloween as of yet, but this idea is just too adorable to throw out! Hope you enjoy, and Happy Halloween! : D

PS. I've been working on this Halloween side story for TWO YEARS. Isn't that awful? I'm so glad to finally have it finished! I have a sketch in the works related to this chapter (if you can call this a chapter), too, but who knows when I'll ever finish it. Probably another couple years. Give or take.

"Mail call!" Cyborg sang as he burst into the living room of Titans' Tower, his arms full of various envelopes and ads.

"Dudes, we got invited to a party tonight!" Beast Boy added, following close behind the robot boy and clutching a brightly colored flyer in his fist. He waved the invite over his head in excitement, gaining the attention of his fellow teen heroes.

"What kind of party?" Robin asked skeptically as he paused his video game and stood up from the couch. The masked team leader didn't sound nearly as excited as the other two boys.

"A Halloween party! Duh!" the green boy explained.

"Have fun," Raven said flatly from her perch on the far end of the couch. She waved dismissively over her shoulder, not bothering to look up from her book.

"Aw, don't be like that Rave, you know you're comin' with us!" Cyborg said cheerfully, dumping the mail down on the kitchen counter.

"Please, what is this 'Halloween'?" Starfire asked, hovering in closer to the group of teens gathered in the kitchen.

"It's a holiday where everyone dresses up in costumes and kids go door-to-door and get candy," Robin said absently as he started to sort through the heap of envelopes.

"That's right, Halloween's today isn't it," Sabbath commented, putting her guitar back in its case.

"How could you not know when Halloween is?" Beast Boy asked, astonished.

"I don't know, I guess I just forgot…" she trailed off, yanking the case's zipper shut. In all honestly, she knew exactly when Halloween was, despite how hard she tried to forget. October 31st was her and her twin sister, Dawn's, birthday. This would be the second one in a row Sabbath would have to spend without her sister. Dawn had run away six months before the girls turned 16, Sabbath hadn't seen her since. It had been a harsh blow, and Sabbath had told herself she wouldn't celebrate another birthday until her sister was found.

She slung the strap of the guitar case gently over one shoulder and glanced over at her fellow Titans, who were all (except Raven, who was trying to block them out) excitedly chattering about the upcoming party. Despite her gloomy thoughts, Sabbath found a smile creeping onto her face. _'But…that doesn't really mean I can't celebrate Halloween...maybe this could be fun after all.'_

Edging closer to the cluster of Titans, Sabbath peeked over Beast Boy's shoulder to get a look at the party flyer. "So, where is it anyway?" she asked.

"In some old abandoned warehouse down by the pier," the shape shifter replied cheerfully. "Isn't that awesome?!"

"That's…actually a pretty shady area, Beast Boy," Robin said, looking up from a sticker-covered fan letter. "It's one of the worst parts of the city."

"Too scary for ya?" Cyborg teased. "Maybe we shouldn't go, y'all. Rob might not be able to handle it…"

"And end up screaming like a girl!" Beast Boy added with a laugh.

"You guys know that's not what I meant!" the Boy Wonder grumbled, crossing his arms defensively across his chest as the other boys draped mock-sympathetic arms around his shoulders.

"We simply must attend, it sounds like delightful fun!" Starfire chirped happily.

"Starfire's right," Sabbath added. "This does sound like fun!"

"But what shall we wear for costumes?" Starfire asked.

There was a brief pause as the teens tried to come up with ideas.

Suddenly, Sabbath broke the silence. "I have a perfect idea!" _'This is gonna be awesome!' _she thought, abandoning her guitar case on the counter as she started digging through the kitchen drawers and cabinets. _'If only I knew where they kept their…ah-hah!' _At last, she pulled an orange, plastic colander from one of the cabinets. _'Close enough!_' she thought, setting it aside before continuing her search_. 'Now…'_

"Friend, is there something with which I may assist you?" Starfire asked, approaching Sabbath. "What is it that you search for?"

Cyborg and Beast Boy remained where they were, looking on in confusion as Sabbath yanked open a drawer, grumbled in frustration, slammed it, and moved on to the next one.

"Ah-ha! Found one!" she said, finally producing a sharpie from one of the drawers. Lastly, she yanked a drugstore pamphlet from the stack of junk mail and ripped it into six squares.

"Uh, Jane?" Beast Boy asked. "What're you doing?"

"I have an awesome idea; this is the best way for us all to decide what our costumes should be!" she explained, handing a slip of paper to each Titan. Even Raven had put her book aside and joined the group to see what all the commotion was about. "Everyone, write down a costume idea. Then fold it up and put it in the bowl…strainer…thing. Then, each person picks one at random, and whatever you pick is what you have to wear! And nobody can say which idea was who's until midnight tonight."

"Sweet! I'm in!" Cyborg replied.

"Challenge accepted!" said Beast Boy. "Who's got the pen?"

"Great idea, Jane. Where'd you come up with this?" Robin asked, scribbling something down on his piece of paper before passing the pen off to Beast Boy.

"I don't remember exactly, I think I read it in a magazine once," she lied. The truth was, when she and her sister had lived in the orphanage, this was how the teachers had gotten everyone to participate in the holiday. She remembered how much fun it had been. It took the pressure off her to choose a great costume, and at the same time she had the opportunity to make someone else wear something really ridiculous. Once, a boy a few years older than her had had to dress up like the principal, a cranky, bitter old woman, and no one ever got in trouble for it because they never found out who was to blame (it may or may not have been Sabbath herself).

"Oh I cannot decide!" Starfire giggled. "The possibilities are endless!"

"Whatever," Raven muttered, quickly writing something down before tossing her folded paper into the bowl. "Just write something basic."

"That's no fun," Sabbath said. She stared down at her slip of paper as she tried to think of a good costume. No ideas stared back, just a colorful paper towels ad. But then, she had the perfect idea. She wrote it down with a smile on her face and tossed her paper into the bowl with the others. "OK," she said at last. "Did everyone put in an idea?" The Titans nodded and muttered words of agreement. "Alright, here we go. We'll pick in alphabetical order. Beast Boy, you're up first!"

The green boy was practically bouncing with excitement as he stepped up to the orange bowl Sabbath now held in her hands. "Go ahead!" she said.

Beast Boy closed his eyes in concentration as his hand shuffled through the scraps of paper, as if he could mentally picture what was written on them if he just tried hard enough. At last, he pulled one out, opened it, and said "Awesome!" He then held his paper out for the others to see. Scrawled messily across an ad for half off cereal were the words '**Secret Agent**.'

"Alright, you're next, Cyborg," Sabbath said excitedly.

The robot boy didn't take nearly as long to choose his paper. Within seconds he pulled one out, read it, and exclaimed, "Booyah!" With a wide smile he proudly held out his paper, which read 'Zombie' right across a make-up model's face. Beast Boy congratulated him with a ridiculously enthusiastic high-five.

"Your turn, Raven," Sabbath said, holding the bowl out.

With a resigned sigh, the girl reached out and grabbed the first paper that brushed her fingers. She unfolded it, and quickly scanned what was written there. As soon as she did, one eyebrow began to twitch. Raven suddenly yanked her gaze up from the offending scrap of paper and shot an irritated look in Beast Boy's direction, her eyes narrowing dangerously at the unfortunate shape shifter. He yelped in response and ducked behind Robin, holding up the Boy Wonder's cape as a shield.

_'If looks could kill,'_ Sabbath thought.

"So what'd you get?" Cyborg asked, seemingly oblivious to the sudden shift in mood. He leaned in to get a glimpse of the slip of paper.

"I don't want to play this game," she replied flatly, offering no further explanation. The square of paper in her hand was suddenly encased in black energy before crumpling into a tight ball and flying back in the colander.

Cyborg jumped on the bowl in Sabbath's hands, fishing out the wadded up piece of paper. He eagerly unfolded it, read what was written there, and burst out laughing.

"What is it?" Robin asked, ignoring the shapeshifter still cowering behind him.

Cyborg, still too overcome with laughter to speak, held out the paper.

The Boy Wonder read it quickly and casually replied, "That's not so bad, Rae." Sabbath, however, could detect restrained laughter in his voice.

"What costume have you chosen?" Starfire asked eagerly, literally bouncing with excitement.

In response, Robin held the paper out for the rest of the Titans to read.

"'Cowboy'?" Sabbath read aloud.

"But, is that not a boy's costume?" Starfire asked, genuinely confused.

Cyborg's laughter increased, leaving the robot boy doubled over, hugging his stomach, and nearly weeping with hysterical laughter. Beast Boy, who was still hiding behind Robin, tried unsuccessfully to hold back his own giggle fit.

"Well," Sabbath began, mentally ordering herself not to laugh. "Technically it is a boy's costume, but if you want, Raven, you can go as a cowgirl instead. Does that help?"

"No," she replied flatly, still keeping her glare on Beast Boy.

"Um…well…" Sabbath began, unsure how to respond. An awkward silence began to take over the room, broken occasionaly by Cyborg's nearly silent hiccups of laughter. "It's, uh, your turn, Robin," Sabbath said at last, turning to the leader of the group.

Without a word, Robin stepped up and plucked a folded sheet out of the bowl. Unfolding it quickly, he read over the words written there, paused, read them again, and looked up with confusion written on his face.

"What's it say?" Sabbath asked, desperate to keep the spirit of the activity alive.

"'Any other superhero,'" he replied slowly, testing the words as he said them aloud.

"Sweet!" Beast Boy said, finally coming out from behind the Boy Wonder. "So you could be Aqualad! Or Speedy! Or Kid Flash, or Superman or even Batm-"

"I think he gets the idea, B," Cyborg said, interrupting the shapeshifter without a single hint of laughter in his voice.

Robin, seemingly deep in thought, didn't reply.

"Guess it's my turn," Sabbath said cheerfully before an awkward silence could once again smother the teens. Closing her eyes, she reached into the bowl and pulled out one of the two remaining slips of paper. Setting the bowl on the counter, she unfolded her paper and read its contents. A blush instantly colored her face. She looked up from her paper and shot each of the boys an accusing look, trying to figure out which one of them had assigned her such a costume.

"C'mon, what'd you get?" Beast Boy asked. "The suspense is killing me!"

"…" Sabbath had no words. She couldn't make eye contact with her friends as she held up her paper.

"Maybe cowboy isn't so bad after all," Raven said.

"'Kitty'?" Beast Boy read questioningly, embarrassment darkening his cheeks.

Sabbath's blush deepened, and Cyborg's laughing fit returned. She couldn't believe one of the guys had actually suggested a slutty costume. "You would," she muttered vaguely at the boys. She didn't know which one of them she was talking to, but she knew they knew. Her mind was still swarming with thoughts of revenge when Starfire reached for the bowl.

"I assume it is now my turn," the alien girl said, hovering towards the counter and reaching for the last folded square of paper in the bowl. She eagerly unfolded it, a giddy smile on her face, and quickly read it. After a moment, she said, "Please, what is a 'ghost'?"

"It's a spirit of someone who died," Sabbath explained. "And their appearance can be interpreted countless ways, since no one has actually ever seen one, so the specifics are up to you."

"Well, now that everyone has a costume, I say we make this a little more interesting," Robin said. "Best costume wins control of the TV remote for a month!"

"But the party's tonight," Sabbath protested. "We only have, what, five? Six hours to come up with a costume? And it's Halloween, the shops are all going to be either picked over or ridiculously crowded! Or both."

"Then we'd better get going!" Cyborg exclaimed.

Beast Boy's face lit up, an idea suddenly coming to him. Glancing up at Cyborg, the two boys looked at each other with mutual understanding and grave seriousness. Beast Boy nodded, and all of a sudden, a speaker started to unfold up from the robot boy's shoulder. Macklemore's 'Thrift Shop' started to play.

"Titans, you have your assignments," Robin said with a smile. "We'll meet back here at seven o'clock sharp, exactly one hour before the party starts. Titans, GO!"

Sabbath sighed as she scanned a shelf of costume accessories at the local department store. She'd been shopping for hours with no luck. As she'd predicted, all the Halloween stores in town were pretty picked over. Even Funky Jim's hadn't had much to offer. This store was no better off. They were down to their last few packs of face paint and plastic jewelry. There were a few unwanted masks and costumes scattered around as well, most hanging out of their packaging and spilling onto the scuffed cement floor.

'_I bet it was Cyborg,'_ Sabbath thought to herself as she examined a pack of animal-themed face paint. _'He definitely laughed hard enough. Though he'd probably think it was funny no matter who picked it. Maybe it was Robin, hoping Starfire would pick it. He seems to have a thing for her.'_ She was still trying to figure out who'd stuck her with a kitty costume. She was starting to wish she hadn't suggested this stupid game.

'_Or,'_ a voice piped up in the back of her mind. _'It could've been Beast Boy…'_ Sabbath shook her head, fighting the blush that was creeping up her face. _'No,'_ she told herself. _'Beast Boy wouldn't want to force a kitty costume on me, would he? Or maybe he meant it for Raven or Starfire?'_

Frustrated with her current spiraling train of thought, Sabbath threw down the pack of face paint she'd been holding and stormed into the next aisle.

What remained of the Halloween costumes was hung messily on a rack stretching the full length of the aisle. A couple panicking soccer moms were arguing with crying children while piling random bags of candy in their carts. Sabbath politely squeezed past a particularly stressed-looking mother of three and flipped through what was left of the adult-sized costumes.

'_Maybe I'll get lucky and they won't have one left,'_ Sabbath thought as she sifted through various padded and furry costumes. _'So what if I lose the contest? I don't care who controls the TV…'_ But as she thought that, her fingers brushed exactly what she was hoping _not _to find. There it was, in her size and everything; a sexy kitty costume. Well, the label said 'Catwoman,' but a cat costume is a cat costume.

Sabbath grimaced as she looked the costume over. The label showed a size 2 model posing happily in what was hardly more than a bathing suit with a tail. _'Yeah, no freaking way in hell.'_ She shuddered and quickly jammed the costume back on the rack.

"Mom, I want to be a vampire for Halloween!" a voice said behind Sabbath.

Sabbath peeked over her shoulder and noticed a mother and daughter arguing at the end of the aisle. The tiny, red-headed girl couldn't have been older than eight, yet she was holding out a teen vampire costume, complete with sassy cape and mini skirt. The girl stomped her foot, clearly moments away from a tantrum.

""I don't think so, Amelia," her mother said, raising an eyebrow at the costume. "What about this one?" she asked, offering a much cuter, younger-looking version of the costume her daughter held. This one had a floor-length dress, big poufy shoulders, and a high collar. The child modeling it on the label smiled cheerfully, contrasting the real girl's sour expression.

"But _mom,_' Amelia complained. "Vampires aren't _cute,_" she said, emphasizing the last word in disgust.

"No, but you are!" her mother responded cheerfully. Kneeling down, she brushed a quick kiss on her daughter's forehead before adding, "Now come on. If you don't hurry this up I'm not going to have time to do your hair."

The girl grumbled in embarrassment at having been kissed in public, but tossed aside the teen vampire costume. "Next year, for sure," the girl muttered before disappearing around the corner after her mother.

Sabbath stared across the aisle at where the mother and daughter had been standing, replaying what she'd just seen in her head. Something those two had said had given her an idea. She grinned as a stroke of genius hit her and ran back to the furry costumes she'd passed before. A small laugh escaped her when, sure enough, she found exactly what she was looking for. It was marked down since it was missing the make-up it was supposed to come with, so no one had bothered to buy it, but Sabbath figured she could just buy make-up separately. She looked down with excitement at the costume in her arms.

It was a kitty costume alright. It was mostly just a baggy, furry, black jumpsuit with a hood. There were pink-lined ears on the hood, a big pink circle on the front from the neck to the waist, and little pink ovals on the big, mitten-like 'paws.' The pant legs were open at the bottom, but they were long enough to completely hide whatever she wore for shoes. There was also a long, black tail hanging from the back. And, last but not least, was the bell. Draped over the hanger was a pink collar with a round, oversized silver bell.

'_Who says cat costumes have to be slutty?'_ Sabbath thought. _'This is going to be perfect!'_

Back at the tower, there was a little over an hour left before the party started, and Sabbath was in her room changing into her costume. After slipping on a pair of black leggings and a t-shirt, she picked up her shopping bag from the department store and walked over to the mirror on her closet door. Before she left the store, she'd also grabbed some one-use, non-prescription costume contact lenses and a cheap pack of face paint. Having never worn contacts, it took several tries and multiple read-throughs of the directions to get them both in. At first they burned, making her eyes water as she began to wonder if she'd been ripped off. But then, her eyes adjusted and she could barely feel the thin plastic films. After she wiped the tears from her eyes, she looked in the mirror and was impressed with the look of the lenses. They had yellow irises, but long, narrow pupils like cats' eyes. Grinning, she then used her favorite eyeliner to apply long, heavy lines in a dramatic cat's eye style. She used the face paint next to draw on a few whiskers, a pink triangle on the tip of her nose, and a line from her nose to her top lip for that animal-like, cleft top lip look. Lastly, she slipped into her costume. It zipped up one side, and was really loose and baggy, so her wings fit perfectly under it. She flipped the hood up and laughing as the ears on the hood pulled the whole look together. For a final touch, she clasped the bell collar around her neck. A few stray pieces of hair had slipped forward out of the hood, and she tried to brush them back, only to realize the paw-like gloves attached to the costume's sleeves didn't allow for much dexterity. _'Whatever.'_

Giving herself one more look over, she couldn't help but laugh. "Hot," she scoffed at her reflection before heading out to the living room to meet up with the rest of the Titans.

Apparently, Sabbath was the last one there. She stopped dead in her tracks and laughed out loud when she saw her friends. "You guys look great!" she said.

Cyborg caught her eye first. As she neared the robot boy, she began to notice the details of his costume, and her smile widened. He'd used face paint to draw patches of rust and cracks on himself, as well as bags under his eyes. He'd also drawn the Windows '98 symbol on his chest. Over his robotic eye was what looked like a sticker of the old windows error message symbol; a yellow triangle with a black exclamation point. Draped haphazardly around his neck was what looked like an Ethernet cable, only smaller. Springs and cut wires stuck out of joints here and there, too, completing the look.

"I love it!" Sabbath said at last. "Most awesome zombie costume ever."

"But you haven't seen the best part," Cyborg replied with a grin. "Check this out!" Flipping open a panel on his arm, he pressed a button and suddenly the sound of dial-up trying to connect emanated from some hidden speaker.

"Nice work, Cy!" she laughed.

"You, too, kitty-cat," he teased once the recording had stopped. "_Meow~"_

She shot him a mock-dirty look before walking off to see what the other Titans had come up with. She noticed Raven standing off to the side of the room, and at first Sabbath thought the girl wasn't wearing a costume.

"Hey, Raven," she began, "Where's your costume?

Raven remained silent, arching an eyebrow at Sabbath's comical appearance.

"It's right here!" Beast Boy said, jogging over with a pink cowboy hat in one hand. "She keeps forgetting it," he continued, plunking the hat down on Raven's head. The hat was suddenly encased in black energy as it levitated off her head and blinked out of existence. "Aw, come on, it took me forever to find it last time!" the green boy complained.

"I think that's the point," Sabbath giggled as Raven put her hood up and walked away. "And I love your costume, Beast Boy!" Beast Boy's costume was indeed impressive. He'd slicked his hair back and was wearing an open black suit jacket with a white shirt that was tucked into black pants, shiny, black oxford business shoes, and a skinny black tie. He also wore a fake FBI badge pinned to his belt, as well as an earpiece with a curly wire that disappeared somewhere under his collar. Lastly, he was wearing reflective aviator sunglasses, which showed Sabbath her own awe-struck face. She thought it was probably the most formal she'd ever seen the shape shifter dress. _'And maybe the most attractive…?'_ a little voice in her head whispered.

He flashed her a winning smile and replied, "Thanks, yours is awesome, too! Couldn't have done better myself."

"Thanks," Sabbath said with a smile, forcing her brain to stay on track and to ignore whatever fuzzy feelings might be trying to work their way to the surface. She cleared her throat before changing the subject and asking, "Where's Robin?" She thought she'd counted five heads when she entered the living room, but now she couldn't spot the Boy Wonder.

"Kitchen," he said, pointing over his shoulder.

Sabbath turned her gaze to the kitchen just as a red-haired boy stood up from rifling through the fridge, his hands full of sandwich-makings as he nudging the door shut with his elbow. A bow was slung across his torso, and a quiver full of arrows was on his back. The only thing she recognized was the mask.

"He's going as Speedy, and Speedy's going as him," Beast Boy explained. "They swapped outfits."

Sabbath couldn't stop staring at the Boy Wonder. "I never realized how much he and Speedy look alike," she said, awestruck. The costume really was convincing. Then, turning her attention back to the green boy she added, "But I still can't say who the winner will be." She knew who she would pick –a certain green FBI agent– but she wondered if her decision wasn't a little biased.

Suddenly a voice spoke up from behind Sabbath, "Oh Jane you look most adorable!" The voice was instantly recognizable as Starfire's.

Sabbath turned around with a smile to return the compliment, assuming the alien girl would have gone some kind of cute-ghost route. Her words froze on her lips, and her breath rushed out in a startled exclamation as she saw what the girl was really wearing.

Hovering before Sabbath was a tall, white, ghost. It looked almost like the classic sheet-style costume, only there were long wispy sleeves that hung well past the girl's hands, and instead of cut-outs for the eyes there were two wide, black ovals of opaque screening, completely concealing the alien's eyes. Rivulets of blood stained small trails from each "eye." The apparition was over six feet tall, much taller than Starfire herself, yet the ragged edges of the costume hovered only inches from the ground.

"What is the matter?" came the innocent alien's voice from somewhere inside the costume. "Is there something wrong with my appearance? Is this not how the ghost should look?"

When Sabbath found herself able to speak again she replied, "No, Star, it's really great, you just…scared me, actually." There was no denying it. The startling costume had totally taken her by surprise.

Starfire giggled, completely contrasting her ghastly appearance.

Sabbath was about to ask her where she'd come up with a costume like that when suddenly Cyborg announced, "Alright y'all, half an hour 'till party time!"

Excited cheers and chatter buzzed through the room, and Sabbath found herself smiling as well. _'This really is nice,'_ she thought. _'Definitely better than last year. If only Dawn could be here, too.'_

"Hey, let's take a picture!" Beast Boy said, walking through the doors into the room, waving a digital camera in one hand and clutching Raven's pink cowboy hat in the other.

'_Guess he found it again,'_ Sabbath thought with a grin. She hadn't even seen him leave the room, but didn't really care. Suddenly a group photo sounded like a perfect idea.

Everyone gathered around the shapeshifter as he propped up his camera on the kitchen counter, fiddling with it until a light began to blink beside the flash, a countdown for everyone to get in position. Suddenly there was a mad rush as everyone (except Raven, who didn't seem to be in any kind of hurry) scrambled to arrange in a group a couple feet away from the camera and strike a pose. Sabbath stood between Beast Boy and Robin, with Cyborg behind her, Raven slightly off to one side –but still in the frame- and Starfire hovering eerily over everyone in the back. Robin hoisted his borrowed bow in the air victoriously, Cyborg raised his arms in a perfect zombie fashion, Beast Boy flashed his badge. Raven just lowered her hood and stared impatiently at the flashing timer. Sabbath, unsure what else to do, smiled her usual picture-day smile (which unfortunately tended to look more like a grimace). Then, a second before the flash went off, Beast Boy flung the cowboy hat towards Raven, and somehow it landed perfectly on her head. She didn't have time to react with anything more than surprise, and by the time the picture was taken, Sabbath couldn't help but smile for real. As the flash went off, Sabbath thought _'I hope you're this happy today, too, Dawn. Maybe next year we can re-take this picture with you in it. Happy Halloween, sis.'_


	26. Chapter 24: The First Day

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 24

A/N: This is Chapter 24 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

P.S. For those of you that don't know, a "glamour" is an old spell used to conceal or change one's appearance. In literature, faeries and witches often used them to look like normal, harmless human beings and gain the trust of humans (usually with malicious intent). Glamours can be customized to suit the caster's needs or preferences. ALSO, really sorry for the long wait. I'm already knees-deep in the next few chapters though; I think I'm getting back into the swing of things. So hopefully the next chapter will be up sooner rather than later, and thanks for bearing with me!

"Hi, I'm Kara," the girl said quietly as the teacher continued her lecture. Kara's bright smile reflected in her eyes. "Nice to meet you, Lucy. And don't mind Ms. Maranda, she can be a little harsh sometimes, but she's really not that bad."

"Hi…" Sabbath replied, slowly sliding her bag under the table as she sat down. Her breathe froze in her lungs. She couldn't believe it. It was the daddy's girl she'd bumped into at the mall. Mr,Kyne's daughter.

Kara's smile turned into a thoughtful frown then as she added, "You look familiar, do I know you?"

Sabbath's heart skipped a beat. She pushed her glasses up higher on her face as she replied, "No, I don't think so. I-I just transferred here."

"Oh…nevermind then," Kara said. "I've heard great things about this chemistry class from some of last year's seniors, it's supposed to be amazing! I heard we even get to-"

"Lucy Bartle! Could you please enlighten us with the answer?"

Sabbath turned her attention to the teacher, Ms. Maranda, who was once again staring at her questioningly. "Umm…" She hadn't even heard the question

_"Six point oh-two times ten to the twenty-third," _Kara whispered to her.

"'Six point oh-two times ten to the twenty-third?'" Sabbath repeated without pause.

"Hm. Very good. Although if you didn't know Avogadro's number I'd have to wonder why you were in this class. But keep in mind that Kara won't always be there to give you all the answers."

Ms. Maranda then turned her attention on some other poor student. With a sheepish smile, Kara muttered, "Sorry about that. I know you probably knew that already. Sometimes I just blurt out answers without even thinking about it. Chemistry is my favorite subject, so I can get a little carried away. I'm so excited they're letting me take senior-level AP chem as a junior!"

"Yeah…" Sabbath turned away, pretending to be interested in what Ms. Maranda was writing on the board and hoping Kara would leave her alone. The longer they kept talking, the more she risked being recognized. Kara already thought she looked familiar…

"So what year are you?" Kara continued quietly. "You don't look like a senior."

"Junior," Sabbath replied quickly. Why couldn't this girl take a hint?

"I thought so! So then you must really love chemistry, too." Kara paused, expecting Sabbath to answer. Instead Sabbath tried even harder to ignore her. She was getting beyond irritated. Kara seemed oblivious, however, and continued on. "You should join the chemistry club! I just started it this year with some of my friends, so I know for a fact it's going to be pretty awesome. It wasn't easy starting a worth while student organization at _this_ school, trust me. But my Daddy pulled a few strings. The club's going to meet every Wednesday in this classroom. You should drop by! We could use all the girls we can get."

"I have guitar lessons on Wednesdays," Sabbath lied. Then, to her surprise, the bell rang, announcing the end of first period. Kara had actually managed to talk all period long. _'Jesus…'_ Without hesitating, Sabbath stood up from her chair, grabbed her bag, and joined the mob of teens fighting for the door.

"Hey, what lunch period do you have?" Kara asked, suddenly right behind her.

Sabbath could feel her temper rising. "I don't know yet, I haven't checked," she said, irritation creeping audibly into her voice.

"Well if you have it fifth period you should come sit with me and my friends," Kara said. "We'll save you a seat!"

Sabbath mumbled something that sounded agreeable before forcing her way through the crowd and into the bustling hallway. Teens streamed past her on both sides. The clamor of chattering voices, slamming lockers, and scuffing sneakers was nearly deafening. Doing her best to keep up and not bump into anybody, she finally came to an empty nook next to a water fountain and stopped there, hoping she had less chances of getting run over. Once she was out of the mainstream of students, she reached into her bag and pulled out the paper with her schedule on it. _''Senior English –Room 113.' Sounds like tons of fun,'_ she thought sarcastically. To her surprise she actually knew where her next class was. Folding up her schedule and slipping it in her pocket, she ducked back into the rushing crowd and hurried down the hall. _'The sooner this is over with, the better,'_ Sabbath thought. It was barely second period on her first day and she was already sick of school.

By the time sixth period rolled around, Sabbath felt completely worn down. Even though none of it was for real, the Senior and AP classes –not to mention the double sciences– had totally fried her brain, effectively exhausting her body as a result. She'd also realized that finding the HIVE agents wasn't going to be as easy as she'd thought. Everyone she'd seen so far looked like a normal high school student, if there was such a thing.

Pausing in the doorway to the cafeteria, Sabbath leaned against the doorjamb, let her bag slide off her shoulder to the floor, and heaved as heavy a sigh as the tight bandages around her torso would allow. She stretched her shoulders in discomfort, and attempted in vain to tuck away at least some of the curls that were hanging in her eyes.

Students milled past her, completely ignoring her presence just as they always did. While she knew that her whole mission here depended on her blending in with the other students, something in her wanted to grab the nearest person and make them notice her. She didn't know how exactly, but she wanted to lash out at her oblivious peers in a way they'd never forget. A fiery prom scene from an old horror movie she'd seen once sprang to mind, and she considered for a moment recreating it here in the cafeteria. Then the doorjamb sticking into her back began to hurt, reminding her of how tired and uncomfortable she was. _'Too much effort,'_ she told herself. Stifling a yawn, she yanked on the strap of her bag and dragged it along behind her as she made her way across the cafeteria towards the menu board, wondering what kind of garbage they were passing off as food today.

She numbly fell in line behind the rest of her peers, picked up a red plastic tray off the stack, and randomly added two or three small cardboard trays of side dishes and a bottled drink. It was all so automatic for her. No matter what school she was at, some routines were always the same. With her backpack hanging from the crook of one arm and her full tray in her hands, she paused, moving out of the way of the students in line behind her, as she scanned the cafeteria for an empty seat. She was the new girl all over again, a painfully familiar roll Sabbath found herself falling into with ease.

Sudden motion to her left grabbed her attention. Turning to look out of curiosity, she spotted hands waving in her direction. At first she assumed they were waving at someone behind her, but then she remembered her back was to the wall. Squinting through the fake plastic lenses of her glasses, she recognized the cheerful, eager smiles of a flashy blond and a skater in camo pants, and felt a smile echoing theirs creep onto her face.

'_That's right, they're here with me this time,'_ Sabbath thought as she walked towards the table. _'This isn't forever, and I'm not alone here. I can't believe I almost forgot. I guess old habits die hard…'_

Starfire and Beast Boy moved over, clearing a spot for her on the bench surrounding the round, gray table. While long, rectangular tables filled up most of the cafeteria, a few small, round ones dotted the outskirts. Conveniently they fit only five or six people, though that meant they were usually snagged up by clusters of the most popular kids.

"Good job on grabbing one of the good tables," Sabbath said as she sat down between Starfire and Beast Boy. "How'd you pull it off?"

"Robin insisted we arrive to the lunch on time," Starfire said, brushing a lock of straight blond hair over her shoulder. "There were numerous empty tables and not many students when we arrived."

"Yeah, most people take their time getting to lunch because they can," Sabbath replied. "There aren't really any teachers in the cafeteria to take attendance or anything."

"But staking claim to a table on the first day ensures it will be ours all semester," Robin said from Starfire's other side.

"Yeah…usually..." Sabbath said, starting to wonder if the Boy Wonder was taking all of this too seriously. _'And how'd he know that, anyway? Has he actually been to school before?'_

Just then, Raven appeared behind Starfire, carrying her own red tray. She sat down on Robin's other side, gently set her tray down, and stared at it with a quiet look of discomfort. The girl looked pale even through the make-up she was wearing to give herself a more healthy skin tone. A few stray strands of brown hair stuck out messily from under her beret and hung in her eyes, but she didn't bother to brush them aside. She didn't really move at all, other than to reach up and touch one hand to her temple, a pained expression briefly flashing across her face.

"…Yeah, cafeteria food isn't exactly the greatest," Sabbath said to her. "Sometimes it's better to not look at it too much and just eat it."

"Tell me about it!" Beast Boy said. He plucked an exceptionally greasy hamburger from its spot on his tray and held it up by two fingers as he continued, "What am I supposed to do with this?!"

"You're supposed to put it in your mouth, chew it, and swallow," Cyborg said, coming up behind him with a loaded tray in his hands. He plopped his tray down and sat in the remaining space between Beast Boy and Raven. Raven flinched at the sound of his tray hitting the table, but other than that made no move to acknowledge his arrival.

"But dude I'm a vegetarian! And this is meat!" Beast Boy fumed. "At least, I think it is.."

"To be fair, it can be hard to tell with cafeteria food," Sabbath added, finally looking down to see what was on her own tray. Jell-O, an equally rubbery block of lasagna, cheese-smothered potatoes, and a bottle of green tea. "There's probably meat in the lasagna, too, but these potatoes look safe, I'll trade you."

"Deal!" Beast Boy said, eagerly handing over his hamburger for the potatoes.

"I don't know what you're complaining about," Cyborg said, happily picking up his own burger. "You can't go wrong with burgers." Then, upon biting into it, Sabbath thought she saw a tear spring to his eye. He froze, with the burger still in his mouth, not taking a bite.

Sabbath arched an eyebrow at the robot boy in the basketball jersey. "You sure about that?" she teased.

He slowly took the unbitten burger out of his mouth and looked at it with a miserable expression. "What have they done to you?" he whispered to it tearfully. Reaching down and fishing in his bag under the table, he produced a small red bottle and added, "Don't you worry, Cy's here to make it all better. It's gonna be ok, little buddy." He then set the burger down on his tray and took the top bun off. Sabbath could see how gross it was even from where she was sitting. The sad excuse for a lettuce leaf on it was more brown than green, the tomato was ironically more green than the lettuce, and the bun was drenched in excess grease. Cyborg unscrewed the round, wooden cap of the bottle and generously applied its thick, reddish brown contents to his burger.

"Is that…hot sauce?" Sabbath asked incredulously.

"Not just any hot sauce," Cyborg replied. "It's Cy-B-Que Hot Sauce from the official makers of Cy-B-Que Marinade."

"The official marinade of the Teen Titans," Beast Boy added around a mouth full of potatoes.

Sabbath would have worried about them being overheard just then, but the din of chatter and clashing silverware was at its peak, and the concrete walls of the cafeteria added a slight echo, turning all conversations into undiscernible noise. If it weren't for them all sitting so closely at a small table, Sabbath doubted she'd even be able to hear Cyborg from one seat over, never mind from the next table. _'I guess it's safe to talk freely here.'_

After the burger was thoroughly coated in sauce, Cyborg reassembled it and took a bite. He chewed thoughtfully before swallowing, then smiled and said, "_Much_ better."

"I find the food of this establishment delightful on its own," Starfire said, happily picking up a chicken wing from her tray and biting it in half. Despite the maelstrom of background noise in the cafeteria, the Titans at the table could all clearly hear the alien girl crunching chicken bones between her teeth.

Beast Boy turned a pale green, even through his heavy make-up. "Uh, Star," he said in a quiet, shaky voice.

"You're not really supposed to eat the bones, Star," Robin said, sounding at a loss.

"Why? I find them quite palatable_,_" she replied calmly as she swallowed what was in her mouth.

Sabbath shivered. _'That was…horrifying...'_

After a shocked pause, conversation picked back up again. Beast Boy lamented over his difficult classes, Starfire gushed about everything new and strange she'd seen (which was basically everything in the building), and Cyborg raised the question of whether or not they should all join some school clubs or sports teams, to better their search for HIVE agents, of course. Jokes were made, laughs were had, and Sabbath couldn't help but wish school had always been like this. _'This is how it's supposed to be.'_

***Raven's POV***

Raven hadn't touched any of the food on her tray. It wasn't that it was terrible –though it was –but the thought of eating anything at that moment made her sick to her stomach. She wrapped one hand around her water bottle, thinking maybe a cool drink would help, but hadn't gotten any further than that. She kept her other hand on her temple. Her self-healing attempts weren't doing a thing; the heavy ache behind her eyes remained where it had been since she'd set foot on the school's property. That meant it wasn't internal, but externally caused. The psychic buildup of over a thousand adolescent minds in the same building was almost too much for her to take. She'd definitely underestimated it. She could barely keep her glamour in place (it was the only way she could wear what she wanted and blend in at the same time).

"You OK, Raven?" Robin asked, speaking quietly so as not to be overheard, but leaning closer to her so she could still hear him.

"Headache…" she muttered, closing her eyes in a grimace at the added sound of her own voice. It seemed so loud in her head.

She didn't turn to look at him, but she could sense him looking more closely at her through his heavily tinted glasses that hid his eyes from all angles. She could also feel him beginning to worry. "There's a school nurse here who can probably give you something for that," he offered.

"I'll be fine. It's just…loud in here," she assured him, knowing full well that medications couldn't do anything for psychic headaches. Unfortunately, he clearly wasn't convinced, and his worry felt like heavy sand being slowly poured into her already pounding head. "Really," she added.

"OK, if you're sure…"

"It's nothing to worry about," she said. Then mentally she added, _'At least I think it's not…'_


	27. Chapter 25: A New Foe

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 25

A/N: This is Chapter 25 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

P.S. It's really weird for me to be writing a summer chapter right now, but somehow it's not difficult. Where I live, winter's really starting to kick it up a notch. It's about 20 degrees Fahrenheit outside without the wind chill, and threatening to snow. But somehow, in my head I have no problem imagining the dead heat of summer. Also, for the record, I love Edgar Allan Poe's stuff. And writing in Robin's POV makes me laugh so much…

Finally, Friday afternoon rolled around, and the school day ended, marking the end of the Titans' first week of undercover investigation at the high school. The final bell rang, and the Titans made their way to the parking lot to meet up at the T-Car. Beast Boy and Cyborg made it to the car first, with Sabbath following close behind them. When they met at the car, they silently exchanged mutual looks of exhaustion. The novelty of being students had worn off, and the school was too cheap to turn on the air conditioning unless it got over eighty degrees. It had been a humid seventy-nine since second period. Heavy clouds were creeping in along the horizon of the already overcast sky, promising a cooling rain storm, but had so far yet to fulfill their promise.

Cyborg popped the trunk open, and the three teens tossed their backpacks inside before getting in the car and cranking the AC.

Beast Boy sat in the back with Sabbath, and the two teens leaning their heads back against the seat and aiming the rear air vents at their faces, waiting for the air conditioning to cool them as they breathed in the stale, humid air in the car.

"I think I'm actually melting," Beast Boy panted out softly. He lazily held up one hand I front of his face, and sure enough Sabbath could see the skin-colored make up beginning to seep down the fabric of his fingerless gloves. Some of the temporary brown dye from his hair was also beginning to run down the side of his face, and his clothes clung to him from the humidity. "When we get home, I'm going straight in the ocean."

"Dolphin?" Sabbath asked softly, closing her eyes as the air coming out of the vents started to turn luxuriously cool.

"Human," he replied, letting his hand fall limply to the seat beside him.

Between the strain of school and the miserable weather, Sabbath was too tired to laugh. Although at the moment, she had to agree with Beast Boy. Jumping in the ocean sounded amazing right now (especially with Beast Boy. Apparently her brain wasn't too tired to conjure up a few images of that). Not only was her hair extra frizzy from all the humidity, but the layers of thick bandage wrapped around her torso were keeping her sweat from evaporating. She felt completely disgusting. "How're you holding up, Cyborg?" she asked.

"Eh, can't complain. Just drowning in my own sweat. No biggie," the robot boy responded weakly from the driver's seat.

"The AC's not really cutting it, is it…" Sabbath said. It had felt like it was cooling off, but then it just stayed at that mid-way temperature.

"Nope," Beast Boy agreed.

"Overheatin' the engine more than anything else now," Cyborg said. "Condenser must need some work. Or maybe the AC needs a recharge…"

Just then, Robin tapped on the front passenger window. Starfire was right behind him. Cyborg nodded and pressed a button on the dashboard, popping the trunk open. Sabbath felt the thud behind her head of the two backpacks landing in the trunk, then the bang of the trunk being slammed shut. She automatically scooted closer to Beast Boy, making room for Starfire. The alien girl slid into her seat and Robin took the front passenger seat, each of them letting in a brief gust of warm, damp air when they opened the doors. Sabbath cringed in discomfort. Yet somehow, Starfire didn't seem to be sweating or tired at all. Robin didn't seem all that exhausted either, but Sabbath noticed that his hair was stuck to his forehead, and the neckline of his t-shirt was clearly wet. He leaned forward in his seat and fiddled with the air vents on the dashboard.

"What's with the air conditioning?" he asked.

"Could need a re-charge, or it could be the condenser," Cyborg repeated. "I'll check it out when we get back to the Tower. After I take about three showers."

_'Condenser…showers…'_ the wheels in Sabbath's mind slowly turned, finally chugging out an idea. "That's it," she said. "Time for drastic measures." She summoned what little strength she could, and a deep blue glow emanated from her hands, which she held out in front of her at shoulder-width apart. A matching blue bubble formed, lining the entire interior of the car. As Sabbath brought her hands together the bubble quickly shrunk towards the center of the car, collecting all the moisture in the air and from the surface of the Titans' bodies with it. They shivered briefly as the wall of the bubble passed over them. When it was the size of a baseball and nearly full of water, Sabbath stopped shrinking it.

"Is that…?" Beast Boy started to ask.

"Don't ask, just open your door really quick," Sabbath said, keeping her focus on the bubble.

As he was asked, Beast Boy opened his door. Sabbath tossed the sphere of water out of the car, where it splashed to the pavement. Beast Boy quickly slammed his door shut, just as a cooler gust of wind brought the first fat raindrops.

"Wow," Robin muttered, inspecting his now dry shirt. "Thanks, Jane."

"Yeah, thanks," Beast Boy said, looking out his window at the small puddle that was left where the bubble had landed.

"Try not to think about it," Sabbath said to the disturbed shapeshifter. "It might feel great at the time, but I try to avoid doing it if I can."

"Why? It worked perfectly," Starfire said.

"Yeah, evaporative cooling is awesome, but aside from the "Ew" factor, now we're all going to have overly dry skin and hair."

There was a brief awkward silence, as no one really knew how to respond.

"Can we leave now?" Sabbath asked after a moment. Rain was falling more steadily on the T-Car's windshield now, and thunder rumbled in the distance. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I could seriously use a nap."

"I hear ya," Cyborg agreed as he started the car, clicked on the windshield wipers, and pulled out of the parking lot.

"At least you're not the one taking all the super hard classes," Beast Boy whined. "I don't even know what they're talking about half the time."

"At least you're not the one with a crazy old English teacher," Sabbath retorted. "This guy, I don't even remember his name, but he's making me do all the assignments. For real."

"Did you try talking to him?" Robin asked.

"What can I say?" Sabbath asked, frustration rekindling all over again at the mere memory. "I can't exactly say I'm on a top-secret undercover mission and I'm only pretending to be a student. After school yesterday I went to see him, and I told him that my parents would be moving soon and I'd be transferring to another city in a week or two, but he didn't care. He just said, 'While you're in my class you're one of my students just like the rest, and you will participate.' So now I have to write a five page essay on Edgar Allan Poe's inspirations." _'So much for passing as an anonymous slacker,'_ she added silently.

"Agreed, that is most unfortunate," Starfire said. "Please, who is this Edgar Allan Poe?"

"A creepy, dead poet," Sabbath said offhandedly. "And then to make matters worse I've got this girl in my Chemistry class badgering me to join her Chemistry Club. And some kind of homecoming committee. Worst of all is she's that girl we ran into at the mall a few weeks back."

Starfire gasped, and Beast Boy said, "She's in your class?"

"Yeah, she's in that stupid Senior AP Chemistry class. She doesn't recognize me though. I guess she just started a chemistry club this year and thinks I'm a chemistry genius like her so she wants me to join. I told her I was busy so now she wants me to join the homecoming dance planning committee instead. She said she can get me in because she's in the student council, and so are all her friends, and her daddy, aka , can pull strings to get them extra funding, and blah, blah, blah. I swear one of these days I'm just going to set her on fire and say it was a lab accident," Sabbath groused, leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms, only to be made even more uncomfortable by the tight bandages crushing her wings, which did nothing to lighten her mood.

"Well, maybe you should do it," Robin said.

"I know I should. And I probably will. I can just say she got too close to a Bunsen burner or something and-"

"No, not set her on fire," Robin interrupted. "I meant maybe you should check out that club she wants you to join. Or the homecoming committee. I've actually been giving this a lot of thought, and I think it would be a good idea for us to get more involved with certain groups and clubs. It would get us even closer to the students, and we could learn more about the social dynamics at play. Then we could more easily identify those who stand out or don't belong anywhere. They would be our most likely candidates for HIVE agents."

"I told you that would be a good idea," Cyborg grumbled. Then more happily he added, "But if we're joining school clubs I call dibs on the basketball team. The coach already asked me."

"But I can't stand her!" Sabbath continued. "And I'm sure her friends are just as awful. I might not have told you, but this girl flipped out on me, Beast Boy, and Starfire because I bumped into her and made her drop a bra. Then she went on to tell us how Titans are all kinds of wastes of space and resources, and her daddy is going to disband us when he's mayor, and she only farts rainbows, and whatever."

Robin's ears had gone slightly red at Sabbath's mention of the bra (_'Or maybe it was the thought of someone being mean to Starfire?'_ Sabbath wondered. She'd suspected for some time now that those two had some kind of a thing going), but after she finished her long-winded story he calmly replied, "It doesn't matter. If you've been invited to join any school organizations, you should join them. That goes for everyone. We're not here to make friends or have fun. We're here to gather as much information about the student body as possible and weed out the HIVE. That's all."

Robin's last statement didn't sound like it was up for debate, and Sabbath was too tired to argue, so she let it go. Nobody else seemed to have anything to add, either.

At last they approached Titans' Tower. Cyborg pushed a button on the dashboard, and the garage door opened. He parked the T-Car in the middle of the garage beside Robin's motorcycle and everyone filed out. A strong, cool wind was blowing through the open garage door, bringing with it a fine ocean spray mixed with large raindrops. Sabbath could hear the surf crashing roughly against the rocks, and the smell of hot, wet pavement mixed with rubber and oil reminded her of summers passed, even though it was almost autumn now. The sea breeze tangled her already wrecked hair, but it cooled her skin, so she didn't mind. She closed her eyes, letting the rain and wind make her forget about all that had bothered her this past week.

"Yo, B, get out of the way man, I'm closin' that door," Cyborg said.

Sabbath opened her eyes out of curiosity and saw Beast Boy leaning against the open doorway, struggling to pry off his shoes. _'Guess he's still going in the ocean,'_ she thought. _'He…wouldn't just strip down right here though, right?'_ Curiosity quickly turned to embarrassment, although for whom she couldn't say.

"I know, I'm going, just lemme get…these…" Beast Boy muttered in response while keeping is concentration on what was seemingly an incredibly stubborn knot in his laces.

"C'mon, you're lettin' the rain in. In or out, BB!" Cyborg said, sounding irritated. The robot boy had by now deactivated his holographic disguise, and once again looked like the Cyborg they all knew.

"Alright, I'm out," Beast Boy said, though there was no anger in his voice. If anything, he sounded a little amused at his friend's expense. He tossed his sneakers to the floor and stepped out into the rain.

"_Thank _you," Cyborg sighed. He tapped a button on a control panel on the wall, and the garage door slowly began to slide shut. But before it could close all the way, Sabbath saw Beast Boy take a running leap into the ocean, fully clothed, letting out a cheer that even the howling wind couldn't drown out.

Sabbath stared at the door, her mind trying to process what she'd just seen.

"The coast drops off pretty steep on this side," Robin said matter-of-factly, noticing her confused expression.

"No. Did…he just go in the water…with all his clothes on?" Sabbath asked weakly.

"On my planet it is customary to do the swimming wearing heavy clothing," Starfire said, taking off her blonde wig and letting her own hair fall freely. She inspected the fake, blonde locks for tangles as she continued, "The waters on Tamaran can be irritating to the skin, and prolonged direct contact can cause burns. All of our warriors must prove their strength by enduring the harsh waters wearing nothing at all for what would be three Earth days before they are allowed to enter combat."

"Um. Wow," Sabbath replied.

"Well, on Earth water has the opposite effect. I myself am gonna go have a long soak in it right now," Cyborg said as he headed for the elevator.

"Yes, the bath of the bubbles is most enjoyable," Starfire agreed cheerfully, following him to the elevator.

"Girl I ain't takin no bubble bath," Cyborg replied. Then more quietly he added, "Raven's aromatherapy bath beads are the way to go."

***Robin's POV***

The elevator doors slid open and the four teens piled in. Upon reaching the main level of the Tower, they each went their separate ways. Cyborg went to his room for a towel before heading to the bathroom. Sabbath went to her room to crash. Starfire went to the kitchen, and Robin went to his room for a change of clothes.

The casual outfits he wore to school made him feel vulnerable and on edge, and not wearing a mask made him extremely uncomfortable. Once his bedroom door slid shut behind him, the first thing he did was toss his boxy sunglasses on his bed and retrieve his mask from its place on his nightstand. The smooth material felt comfortably familiar against his face. The tension eased from his shoulders at last, and he released a sigh he felt he'd been holding in all week. Feeling more at ease, he quickly changed into his uniform. The sturdy click of his utility belt had him feeling back to his old self.

_'Hair,'_ he reminded himself. Afraid of being recognized, he didn't dare spike it up in his trademark style at school, and with Jane's drying trick, he could only imagine how it looked now. He was about to head to the bathroom to fix it, but then he remembered Cyborg was hogging the bathroom. He grumbled irritably to himself and asked the walls for the thousandth time why Cyborg hadn't designed a place this size with more than one bathroom. He ran a hand through his hair as he thought, only to be met with dreadfully limp, wispy locks. _'I've got to have an extra jar in here somewhere.'_ Desperate, he turned back to his nightstand, the only place in his room he stored personal things. If he had any hair gel in there, though, it would be old, and possibly not the best quality, but this was an emergency. He opened the bottom drawer and fumbled around, brushing aside old journals and comic books until his hand closed around a familiar plastic jar. He frowned when he opened it to reveal its blue, slightly dried out contents. It smelled a little like glue, and the clear kind worked better, but he made it work.

Finally satisfied with his appearance, he headed out towards the kitchen. Not to see Starfire, though. Of course not. He wanted to grab a water from the fridge and…check the computer for any updates from the mayor. Yeah. He was a busy man, but if Starfire just happened to want to talk, he supposed he could make time. He imagined her smiling at him as he approached. 'Greetings, Robin,' she would say. 'Your hair looks especially pointy today, and smells nothing like the glue of airplanes.' In response he would then lift a lock of her hair between his fingers, lock his gaze onto hers and reply, 'And yours smells like the sweetest strawberries.' Her cheeks would flush in embarrassment as she suddenly threw her arms around his neck and-

"Bathroom's all yours man," Cyborg said cheerfully from behind him, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

Robin spun around, admittedly startled by the robot boy's sudden appearance. He didn't know when he stopped walking, but he found himself standing between Cyborg's door and the doors to the main room.

"Thanks," he said, desperately gathering his scattered thoughts. What was it about Starfire that made him lose all track of what was going on around him? Just thinking about her dulled his senses. "That was fast…"

"Yeah, well I couldn't relax knowin' my baby needed me," the robot boy replied, referring to the T-Car. "If ya need me, I'll be down in the shop workin' on her." With that, the robot boy tossed his towel over his shoulder and headed towards the elevator.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Robin continued towards the main room of the Tower. Tapping the control panel on the wall, the double doors slid open. The large bay window revealed a raging storm. Lightning flashed over the ocean, lighting up the entire sky. Rain fell in sheets, relentlessly pelting the window. Wind howled around the Tower, creating an overall depressing atmosphere. But when Robin's eyes landed on Starfire standing at the kitchen counter, the clouds parted and the sun shone brilliantly into every corner of the room. Not literally, of course, but it may as well have. He forgot all about the storm's dark gloom, and a bright warmth filled his heart.

"Hello Robin," she said with her usual cheer. "Have you seen Raven?"

"Uh, no," he said as he realized it was the truth.

"I am concerned for her," Starfire said as she fidgeted with the strap of a small purse she was carrying. "She had agreed to join me in venturing to the mall of shopping, but I have not seen her since lunch. I am worried she is not feeling above the atmosphere."

'_She means 'under the weather','_ Robin realized, finding her mistranslation adorable as always. Then aloud he replied, "Now that you mention it, neither have I. But you know Raven, she likes her space." But the more he thought about it, he remembered her constant headaches at school, and started to share Starfire's worry. "I'll go check on her," he said in an attempt to set the alien girl's mind at ease.

***Raven's POV***

Today was the fifth consecutive day she'd felt a nearly blinding pain every second she stood on school grounds. No amount of meditation had helped her block out the psychic noise, and no healing spells or pain-blocking potions had even made a dent. She'd even looked into the building's history, wondering if it could be some kind of residue from a violent past, but that hadn't panned out either. A janitor had cut himself on a piece of equipment in the woodshop a few years back, but other than that there was nothing. Before there was a school there the property had been used as the city dump, but when the city grew too big and the lot couldn't contain all the waste, it had been moved to a bigger site where it still was today, and the land was repurposed and put up for sale. The high school had been built on it a couple decades back, and that was that.

_'But there has to be a cause,'_ Raven thought. _'Something that I'm just not seeing.'_ But just because she couldn't see it, didn't mean there was nothing to see. As a last resort, she walked over to her bookcase and retrieved a dark bottle, a shallow, black stone bowl, and a well-worn book. She sat down cross-legged in the center of the room and set her supplies down in front of her. Five white candles floated over, arranged in a circle around where she sat, and lit themselves. Setting the book aside, she placed the bowl on the floor directly in front of her. Its surface shone, having been polished to a perfect, glossy finish. She then uncorked the dark bottle and poured about half of its contents into the bowl. Resealing the bottle, she set it aside and lifted the bowl to her face. She blew steadily into the bowl, stirring the liquid within without touching it, and continued until it started to glow. Satisfied, she gently set the bowl down and picked up the book. Though she'd read it cover to cover over a dozen times, she still wanted to make sure she did everything perfectly. A small mistake could ruin the whole thing and result in her receiving false information, if any at all.

Raven flipped the book open to the chapter on scrying and read through the instructions once more. _'Onyx bowl…moon-soaked water…five white candles…mix steadily with breath…steady light from within…'_ Satisfied she hadn't missed anything, she cleared her throat and focused her energy. She took a couple deep breaths to center herself, and then began to chant, "Azarath…Metrio-"

*_KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK*_

"Raven, everything OK?" Robin asked, his voice slightly muffled through the door.

Raven sighed. She waited a minute to see if he would leave, but when he knocked again she knew she couldn't ignore him. Aggravated, she stood up, waved a couple of candles out of her way, and walked to the door. She opened it, but made no move to either leave or invite Robin in. She simply stood there to hear him out.

"Uh, hi," he said, seeming surprised that she'd actually opened the door. "I…just wanted to see how you're feeling. Starfire said-"

"I'm fine," Raven said. She could sense the moon water getting stale the longer she stood there, its glow slowly fading away.

"But you've had a headache every day this week, and you always shut yourself away in your room as soon as school gets out. What's going on?"

"It's just some kind of psychic feedback from all the energy built up there," Raven lied. She knew now it had to be more than that, but it wouldn't do any good to say so before she knew what the problem really was. Robin would just worry for nothing. Then, realizing she'd been a little harsher than necessary, she added, "I'm sorry I worried you all. I'm working on a cure right now. And yes I'd tell you if something was really wrong." Maybe it was because of how long she'd known him, but she found Robin's line of questioning ridiculously predictable. "And tell Starfire I'll take a rain check."

"O…k," Robin said, not sounding entirely convinced.

Without saying anything more, she let the door slide shut and rushed back to her circle. The water in the bowl had significantly dimmed, though it was still usable. She sat down and closed the circle of candles around herself once again. After taking a second to regain her focus, she picked up where she left off.

"Azarath…Metrion…Zinthos. Azarath…Metrion…Zinthos. Azarath…Metrion….ZINTHOS!"

The water in the bowl began to swirl, and the light within it flickered. For a moment she thought she'd have to start again (assuming she had enough moon water for a second try. If not it would be another month before she could make more at the next full moon), but then the water steadied, its surface becoming as smooth as glass. The glow was dim, but within it she could begin to make out a form.

'_What is it I need to see?' _she mentally asked, willing the answer to come to the surface. At last a face appeared, only it was difficult to make out the details with the diminished glow of the water. Had it been brighter she would have seen him perfectly, but still, the sharp features, blazing red eyes, white hair, there was no question. She gasped as she recognized the face before her. "It's Brother Blood… Brother Blood is at the high school." 


	28. Chapter 26: Doldrums

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 26

A/N: This is Chapter 26 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

P.S. I can't believe it's been three years since I started writing this story! I never thought it would take this long, to be honest. I'm amazed to have kept readers this long, and that I still love the story as much as I did when I started writing. I'm also surprised I've managed to keep it a secret for this long. No one who knows me knows I write fanfiction. It's like having a secret identity, and I think I like it that way. Sabbath's story is far from over (maybe a little less than half way?), and I don't think I'll be able to stop writing it until it's finished. I want to know how it ends hopefully as much as you all do! So keep reading and I promise to do my best to keep things interesting!

"Who's Brother Blood?" Sabbath asked. She was sitting around the table in the main room of the Tower with the rest of the team (except Beast Boy, who was still washing off the week's stress in the Pacific Ocean). She'd barely had half an hour to relax –which was not nearly enough time to catch up on sleep– before the crime alarm had sounded, accompanied by Robin's voice on the intercom calling for a group meeting. She'd taken off the restrictive bandages that bound her wings and changed into more comfortable clothes, but her hair was still a mess.

"He's the headmaster of HIVE Academy," Cyborg said, sounding confused. "But what's he doin' at the high school?"

"But if he's part of the HIVE, it makes sense that he'd be there. The HIVE is supposed to be infiltrating the school to gain new recruits, right?" Sabbath replied.

"No," Robin said. "Brother Blood never handles his work directly. I'd expect him to have his top students on this job, but I never imagined he'd get so closely involved."

Sabbath looked down at the file lying open on the table. It was some basic information on the HIVE from the mayor, along with additional information on Brother Blood himself that Robin had dug up. She skimmed the man's description once more, trying to get a clearer picture. _'Telekinesis…highly intelligent…skilled physical combat…'_ Then she found something particularly disturbing. "'Psychic mind control'…?" she read aloud.

"Brother Blood can make anyone do anything," Cyborg said grimly. "Without even lifting a finger."

"Almost anyone," Robin added. "Cyborg's immune to his control because half of his mind is mechanical."

"But I saw what he did to his students when I went undercover at the HIVE Academy. He'd have an entire lecture hall under his control. Their eyes turned blood red, and suddenly they were his slaves."

"And his psychic powers must be what I'm sensing," Raven said. "It's as if he's blocking me. Instead of an emotional overflow from the students all I can hear is white noise from his interference." She reached one hand to her temple, as if just remembering the migraines summoned a phantom pain.

Sabbath continued to flip through Brother Blood's file. She came upon a picture, and looked closely to see if she'd seen him anywhere at school. For a minute she thought his eyes looked familiar, but then decided against it.

"How does this aid us in our finding of the HIVE agents?" Starfire asked.

"I don't know yet," Robin said. "But now we have something solid to give to the mayor."

"And we can narrow our search to just the adults, now, right?" Sabbath asked hopefully. "So we don't have to join any clubs to watch the students?"

"No," Robin said. "We can't rule anything out just yet. Blood's not the only HIVE agent in that school. We need to find them all."

Sabbath crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat, hearing the barred doors of her fate slamming shut. There was no getting out of it now; she'd have to join the chemistry club. She grumbled irritably to herself, but didn't say anything more.

Just then, the double doors slid open, revealing a Beast Boy Sabbath finally recognized. "Hey dudes," he said cheerfully as he walked over to the group. "What'd I miss?"

"An important meeting about the mission," Robin said. "Where were you?"

"I told you, I went for a swim," Beast Boy said, taken aback by the Boy Wonder's rough tone. His hair was still wet, a testament to his excuse. "What happened?"

"Raven says some HIVE guy is at the school, and Robin's still making us join clubs," Sabbath said crossly. "So in other words, not much."

Robin remained quiet for a moment, and Sabbath could tell he was trying to decide whether or not to say anything to her. Apparently he decided against it as he kept his attention on Beast Boy instead and said, "Brother Blood is somewhere in that high school."

"So what? He's just some old fart," Sabbath said. Unable to sit still any longer, she stood from her seat and headed for the exit. She half hoped someone would try to stop her, but wasn't surprised when the only sound in the room was that of the doors sliding open. She walked to the elevator and took the short ride up to the roof. She'd forgotten about taking a nap and was now in no mood to deal with her hair. Stepping out onto the rooftop of the Tower, she took a minute to stretch her stiff wings. She'd felt physically and mentally confined all week, and now all she could think about was getting out and blowing off some steam. Finally, she flicked her wings out to their full span and took flight.

The sun was setting now, so she headed east into town, if for no other reason than to avoid being blinded by the harsh, orange glare. The strong rain from earlier had stopped, and the clouds were nearly cleared. The city smelled of wet pavement, and rush hour traffic splashed through the quickly evaporating puddles. The light of the setting sun sparkled off of the countless glass windows and cars below. Looking at the city from above, Sabbath was able to pretend it really was as small and insignificant as it looked.

Pausing to catch her breath, Sabbath came to rest atop one of the many office buildings and gazed down at the city below. She recognized this part of town. _'I just can't get away from you, can I?' _Sabbath thought, staring down at the familiar gravel roof of the cheap, public high school a little ways down the street. _'I'm not in foster care anymore, but I might as well be,'_ she groused. _'Well, ok…maybe that's not totally true. Things could always be worse. But it's hard to feel like things have changed when I'm right back where I started._

_Maybe Dawn had the right idea all along. Maybe I need a fresh start. After all, what's really keeping me here?'_

Suddenly, a green owl fluttered to land on the edge of a satellite dish beside Sabbath. The bird then hopped down to the black tarp of the rooftop, changed into a familiar green boy and said, "Hey."

Sabbath jumped in surprise at beast Boy's unexpected appearance. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Looking for you," he replied, sounding surprised as if she should've known that already.

"Well, congratulations," Sabbath replied flatly, crossing her arms and turning her attention back to the glittering city below. The sunset was fading, and street lights were beginning to flicker on, block by block. "You found me." She was touched by the shapeshifter's thoughtfulness, but she felt too miserable and lost in her own gloomy thoughts to acknowledge it. Sitting down on a low, metal utility box, not caring that it was still damp from the rain, Sabbath tucked her knees under her chin and wrapped her arms around them, keeping her back to the sun.

"…What's up?" Beast Boy asked after a moment, coming to sit beside her. "You seemed kind of upset when you left."

"I was. Am. I don't know. I just…" at a loss for words, she finally turned to face him. The red light of the setting sun shone warmly on the side of his face, highlighting his features and giving an added glimmer to his eyes. Sabbath blushed and turned away. 'I just…haven't been sleeping that well lately," she said. And it wasn't a lie; her usual nightmares were there to meet her almost every time she fell asleep. She hadn't really used her powers much since going undercover at the school, she hadn't even flown all week, and the Dark Man in her dreams wasn't happy, to say the least.

And the way things looked now, Sabbath was afraid she'd spend the rest of her life on the impossible mission of finding HIVE agents. The only thing they'd managed to come up with so far was that the HIVE's headmaster was at the school, but it didn't even change anything. She couldn't help it, couldn't keep it all in any longer. At last she added, "And this whole HIVE thing is so frustrating! I hated high school enough when it was for real, but at least then I could just keep to myself. Now it's not real, but it might as well be! It's like I'm the new girl all over again but with the added bonus of looking for people that I don't even know what they look like. We're never going to be able to find them and we'll just be stuck in that stupid school forever and…and…" At last she was out of words, and was just left with jumbled emotions she couldn't express, which only added to her frustration.

Beast Boy looked at her and seemed to understand even what she hadn't been able to say out loud. After a moment he responded quietly, "You're not alone in this, Jane. We're all on the same mission together, and we're _going_ to find the HIVE. They can't hide from us forever. And don't take it so seriously, it's only a job. For now, there are more important things to worry about."

"Like what?" Sabbath asked, exasperated. _'What could be more important than the mission?'_ she wondered, feeling even more stress was about to be piled on her already weighted shoulders.

"An important decision has to be made," he said. He paused a moment before continuing, his tone completely serious, "…Gummy bears…or chocolate-covered pretzels?"

Sabbath just looked at him, totally thrown for a loop. "…What?"

"Tonight's movie night and Cyborg put us in charge of snacks," Beast Boy said. "Now we have to choose, gummy bears or chocolate-covered pretzels."

Sabbath finally began to make sense of what he was saying, and she started to laugh.

"It's an unbroken Titan tradition that goes back to the beginning of time!" Beast Boy insisted. His voice was still serious, but he was grinning now, too.

At last Sabbath managed to pause in her laughter and gather enough breath to reply, "I don't know, that's a pretty heavy responsibility…but I'd have to go with gummy bears."

"Nice choice! But we have to hurry," Beast Boy said urgently as he stood up. "Star and Robin went to get the pizza a while ago, and we still have to go to Marlene's Candy Shoppe half-way across town."

"Can't let the pizza get cold," Sabbath agreed, mock seriousness in her voice now, too. She stood up and stretched her wings. "Lead the way!"

Beast Boy morphed into a green hawk and took flight, heading south towards the heart of downtown. Sabbath paused briefly to look at the city in the quickly fading light of day. The sun was nearly set, but somehow the city sparkled even more brightly than it had before. A hawk's shriek got her attention, and Sabbath turned to see the green bird hovering in mid-air, waiting for her to follow. "I'm right behind you!" she yelled back, jumping from the rooftop and reveling in the feel of the cool sea breeze filling her wings. _'And there's no place else I'd rather be,_' she realized as she happily raced Beast Boy down over the bustling city streets, completely oblivious to the quiet blond girl entering the other side of the building she'd just left behind.

The blonde girl looked up, thinking for a moment she'd heard a familiar voice. There was no one there, though, so she pushed the thought from her mind and returned her gaze to the sidewalk in front of her. She stepped through the rotating doors at the north entrance of the building, took the elevator to the fifth floor, and walked to the familiar wooden door that read "Pediatric/Adolescent Psychiatry Dr. Regina K. Halpburn, MD" in white paint on its window. With a sigh, she pushed it open and approached the secretary typing away quietly at the front desk.

"Name?" the secretary asked without looking up from her computer screen.

"Hellingsworth," the blond girl replied. "Dawn Hellingsworth."

The secretary continued to click and type before answering, "Go ahead and take a seat, Ms. Halpburn will be with you shortly."


	29. Chapter 27: Ka-BOOM

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 27

A/N: This is Chapter 27 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

* * *

><p>Sabbath still couldn't believe she was going through with it. The school day was over, and the hallways were nearly empty now. The rest of the Titans were at their chosen extracurricular activities, and Sabbath was no different. She stood silently in front of the door to the chemistry lab, glaring at its scratched, metal handle. Normally, she never would have joined any kind of school clubs, nevermind a science club. But it was either the chemistry club or the homecoming committee, and she knew she'd rather pretend to talk geek for an hour than glue pom-poms on brightly painted posters. <em>'Just get it over with,'<em> she told herself. She took a deep breath and held it as she opened the door and entered the lab.

Her first scan of the room didn't reveal any familiar faces, and she released her held breath in a quiet sigh of relief. There were only four other students in the room; three boys and a girl. The girl was sitting at a lab bench with one other guy. She was leaning in close to him and talking quietly, occasionally gesturing to the papers on the bench in front of them. The couple ignored Sabbath, but the other two boys glanced up briefly from their seats at two other lab benches. One boy looked like a stereotypical nerd; tucked in button-up shirt, chunky watch, huge glasses, hair parted in the middle, the works. He'd been busy scribbling away in a notebook, and glared at Sabbath for daring to interrupt his train of thought with her appearance in the room. She arched in eyebrow, surprised by his attitude. The boy just scoffed under his breath and returned to his writing. The other boy in the room was dressed much more casually, wearing baggy sweatpants, a faded t-shirt and a hoodie. Even his hair was mussed, giving him that just-rolled-out-of-bed look. He looked Sabbath up and down with hooded eyes, not even trying to be subtle about it, before apparently deciding there was nothing to see and turning his attention back to his phone.

_'This group looks like loads of fun,'_ Sabbath thought sarcastically as she took a seat at an empty lab bench, sliding her bag from her shoulder and tucking it under the table. _'How can this be a club? No one's even doing anything. And these guys definitely don't look like the villainous type at all. What a waste of time…Great idea, Robin.'_

"Lucy!" a voice exclaimed cheerfully from the back of the room.

Sabbath flinched as she recognized the voice and slowly turned around in her seat, hoping she was wrong. But sure enough, there was Kara. She was coming out of a storage room adjacent to the lab, her arms full of plastic bins, rubber tubing, meter sticks, rolls of tape, and a bottle of dish soap.

"I'm so glad you made it!" Kara continued, setting down her supplies on a lab bench near the back of the room. "Today's the first meeting of the year, so we're doing a really fun experiment to get people interested in the club. Richard's even here to take pictures and write an article on it for the school paper," she said, gesturing to the angry nerd on the other side of the room. The boy didn't look up, but waved over his shoulder with his free hand while his other continued to scrawl madly across the pages of his notebook.

"Cool…" Sabbath said, still somewhat distracted by the items Kara was spreading out on the table. "So…what are we doing today?"

"You'll see," Kara replied as she dribbled dish soap into each of the three bins and started filling them with water. "You're totally gonna love this!" she added with an excited grin.

"Can't wait," Sabbath lied, turning her attention to the scratched, black tabletop in front of her as Kara busied herself with setting up…whatever it was they were going to do.

Kara carried a bin of soapy water to each of the three lab benches in the front of the room, placing beside each one a length of rubber tubing, a meter stick, and a roll of tape. She then attached one end of the tubing to a gas jet at each bench before turning to stand at the front of the room.

She cleared her throat in an attempt to get everyone's attention before announcing, "Hi everyone, and welcome to the first official meeting of the Chemistry Club! We've got something really awesome planned for today, so be sure to tell your friends. The more the merrier!" She paused for a moment to see if the others were listening. Richard hadn't looked up from his notebook, but the other guy and the couple were now watching her.

"What's with the rubbers?" the texting guy asked, referring to the rubber hoses and earning snickers from the other three students.

If Kara caught the boy's condom joke, she ignored it. Instead she continued to smile as she explained, "Today we're doing an experiment to explore the effect soap has on the surface tension of water, as well as the flammable qualities of gaseous propane."

The couple and the texting guy replied with dull, blank stares, though Sabbath now looked on with quiet curiosity.

"In other words, we're blowing soap bubbles with the gas and lighting them on fire." Richard said condescendingly. Then more quietly he added, "Snot brains…"

Sabbath scoffed at the boy's childish insult, though no one else even acknowledged him with a reply. They all seemed more intrigued by the idea of setting something on fire, and Sabbath had to admit that maybe she had something in common with the science nerds after all (except Richard, who just seemed like a miserable human being).

Kara now had (nearly) everyone's full attention. The couple no longer looked like they were about to make out, and the texting boy had actually put his phone in his pocket.

"But not until everyone observes proper fire and lab safety," Ms. Maranda said, coming out of the storage room in the back of the classroom. Everyone turned towards her, surprised at her sudden appearance. "Those gas jets don't go on until sleeves are rolled up, hair is securely tied back, and safety glasses are on." She looked pointedly at each student as she continued, "And these matches don't touch anyone's hands until that time." She held up the matchbooks to which she was referring before slapping one down at each lab bench next to the tubs of soapy water. "And I expect all three of them to be returned to me at the end of this meeting. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Ms. Maranda," they all muttered, rising from their seats.

Kara joined their ranks, and Sabbath followed the group towards a small, white metal cabinet in the back of the room. Kara turned the key that was already in the lock and pulled open both doors. Inside were several wire racks of plastic safety goggles illuminated by a bright blue light in the top of the cabinet. Everyone grabbed a pair at random before returning to their seats.

Sabbath plucked a pair from the cabinet at random and studied them. Their dingy, scratched surface appeared to be just plastic, and the surrounding part was rubber. _'What's the point? These would melt in a heartbeat…' _Sabbath mused. After struggling briefly with the goggles –the tight elastic band pulled her hair and the edge of the goggles dug mercilessly into her face– she managed to fit them over her fake glasses with only minimal discomfort.

"You doing ok there, Lucy?" Kara asked, coming to stand beside her.

"Yeah, I got it," Sabbath muttered, still attempting in vain to adjust the goggles to a less painful position.

"Alright, everyone," Ms. Maranda said, pulling her own goggles over her face with practiced ease. "Two people to a station."

The couple approached the center station, Richard and the other student took up the one on the far side of the room, and Sabbath, who was still trying to adjust her goggles to a position where they didn't cut into her face as badly, approached the closest lab station to the door. Kara followed her.

"Have you ever done this one before?" Kara asked.

"Can't say I have," Sabbath replied. She was more than ready to set bubbles on fire, but all the unnecessary precautionary measures were ruining it.

"Well I did it in my science class last year, so I'll let you do the fun part."

"Alright, for those of you who haven't done this before, this is the procedure," Ms. Maranda began. "In front of you should be a bin of soapy water, a yard stick, matches, and a roll of tape. A rubber hose should also be firmly attached to the gas jet at your station. Make sure your jets are off at this time."

Kara grasped the handle of the jet and attempted to turn it clockwise. When it wouldn't turn, she turned her attention to Ms. Maranda and said with a smile, "All clear here!" Other students muttered their agreement.

Ms. Maranda then walked towards a red button on the wall by the door, put a key in it as if unlocking it, and pressed the button into the wall. "The gas main is now on," Ms. Maranda announced, walking back to her post at the front of the room.

'_Could she draw this out any more?'_ Sabbath wondered, growing impatient.

"Now, tape a match to the end of the yardstick."

"Already taken care of," Kara whispered excitedly to Sabbath.

"The next part requires team work," Ms. Maranda said. "One student will dip the hose into the bin of soapy water, then lift it out and turn the gas jet on, creating a bubble of gas. The other student will light the match on the yardstick and use the flame to ignite the bubble once it's floating freely in the air."

"Here goes," Kara said, swishing the hose around in the water before raising it out and reaching for the gas jet. "Ready?"

"Almost," Sabbath said, fumbling with the matchbook. She'd managed to rip one of the flimsy cardboard matches out of the pack, but couldn't get it to light.

"…You have to strike it on the strip on the back…" Kara said, watching Sabbath's pathetic attempts.

"I know that," Sabbath snapped, quickly flipping the book over. In truth, she hadn't known that. She'd never learned to use matches. She'd seen them used, and knew there was something about scratching the head of it on a hard surface, but had never actually had to use them herself. She was tempted to light the thing her own way, but didn't dare with Kara breathing over her shoulder. She struck the match across the strip over and over, but it refused to light. The cardboard of the match merely bent under the pressure. _'This is getting embarrassing…'_ Sabbath thought. _'Why won't this stupid thing-'_ suddenly, the head erupted in a white blaze before quickly settling down into a smaller, orange flame.

"There you go," Kara said, sounding as if she were trying to be nice to a really slow child. "Now light the match that's on the stick with the one in your hand…"

"I got it," Sabbath said, frustration clear in her voice. "Just blow the stupid bubble."

Without another word, Kara turned on the gas long enough to create a fist-sized bubble, then shut it off again. She waved the hose gently, shaking the bubble free. As it floated towards the ceiling, Sabbath lit the match that was on the meter stick and extended the new flame towards the bubble. When the two connected, the bubble instantly disappeared in a silent, orange flash.

"Neat, huh?" Kara asked.

"...Yeah." Sabbath replied, disappointed. "Guess I was just expecting a bigger explosion."

"Don't worry," Kara said. "We've still got almost an hour left to keep trying."

Looking at the clock over the door, Sabbath saw that it was true. Somehow, she'd only been there for less than fifteen minutes. She could barely suppress a groan.

An hour later, the club meeting was adjourned, and the students were free to go, except Kara who volunteered to stay behind to help put things away. Sabbath was one of the first people out the door, eager to be anywhere else before Kara could ask her to stay and help clean up, too, or join another stupid club. Sabbath had come to the conclusion that there were no villains in the chemistry club, just a couple science nerds and a few poor souls who needed the extra credit. She'd spent over an hour making nice with nothing to show for it but twisted nerves and soapy hands. She'd been so eager to escape the room that she'd forgotten to wash her hands, and the dish soap residue that had occasionally splashed out of the bin had by now dried onto her skin and clothes.

Heading down an empty hallway towards the bathroom, Sabbath spotted a now-familiar tan face. She recognized him instantly, and felt an automatic smile cross her face.

"What up?" Beast Boy called, coming to walk beside her.

The sight of him did something to raise her spirits, but Sabbath still found herself in an overall sour mood from her chemistry club adventures. "Not much," she replied. "No evil-doers to report either. Well, not the kind we're looking for, anyway…" she added, wondering how much better that club meeting might've gone if Kara hadn't been there. "I'm just glad that's over with. This day has dragged on forever. "

"I dunno, the comic book club was pretty cool," Beast Boy said cheerfuly. "Too bad they only meet once a month."

_'Atleast someone had fun today,'_ Sabbath thought, still trying in vain to rub the soap residue from her hands. The two teens continued walking in silence for a bit, with the late afternoon sunlight streaming through the windows of the doors they passed, cutting across their path at low angles and filling the dingy hallway with a warm, almost fiery glow. Even the old, scuffed lockers seemed to shine. Dust motes hung in the heavy, late-summer air, glinting in the sun.

After a minute or two, Sabbath finally spotted the restroom sign up ahead. "I'll catch up with you and the others outside," she said as she veered towards the bathroom doors. "Need to wash up," she added, holding up her hands as evidence. _'And pee,'_ she mentally added as she headed swiftly through the door to the girls' bathroom.

The overhead fluorescent lights filled the small, windowless room with a cold, green glow; sharply contrasting with the warm ambience of the hallway. The light over the last stall flickered occasionally, and another stall had an "Out of Order" sign taped haphazardly to its door. There were three stalls in total, and a sink across from each stall. Hazy, water-spotted mirrors hung from the wall above each sink, the images reflected in them appearing fuzzy and distant.

The stall in the middle looked like the best of the three, so Sabbath headed into that one automatically. Once inside, however, she found that the door would close but wouldn't lock. She knew there wasn't much of a chance that anyone else would come in, but it still made her uncomfortable. _'Maybe I've got something I can wedge it shut with…' _she thought. Sabbath opened her bag and began digging through it for anything to keep the door shut. A pen, a folded up piece of paper, anything.

Her mind was still trying to come up with ideas when she heard the bathroom door swing open. Footsteps echoed off the tile walls, and Sabbath watched a shadow cross the floor in front of her. Whoever it was stopped at the far sink in front of the flickering light. Sabbath heard brief rustling, and then silence. The stranger's presence somehow made Sabbath feel awkward, so she decided to wait until they left. There was a small flash. _'Bathroom selfies?_' Sabbath wondered. _'Really? In _this_ bathroom?' _She couldn't imagine the bleak, creepy atmosphere made for the best photography, but before she could give it too much thought, the stranger left. Sabbath heaved a quiet sigh of relief. She still hadn't found anything to hold the door shut, so she decided to make use of the facilities as quickly as possible before someone else had the chance to walk in.

Exiting the stall, Sabbath slung her bag over one shoulder and stepped up to the closest sink. She reached for the faucets automatically only to stop half-way there. There actually were no faucets. At least, none with knobs. There were small, rusty clamps in place of where the knobs used to be, but Sabbath decided against it. She looked to the sink to her right, only to see it was full of hair and powdered make-up. A chewed piece of gum covered half the drain. _'Ew. What is it with this place?'_ Sabbath thought. She turned to the sink to her left, and saw that it was thankfully normal. Well, relatively speaking. The pipe underneath it was plastic instead of metal, clearly having been recently replaced, and water dripped slowly from the joints, but it was still better than the alternatives.

Sabbath turned on the water, pleasantly surprised to see that it was clean and clear. However, before she could wet her hands, she heard an angry sizzling and popping from the drain. It was soft, like pop rocks. Or was it getting louder? Pulling her hands away, Sabbath listened, hoping whatever it was would stop.

It didn't.

The popping got louder and smoke began to rise up from the drain in spite of the water. Then flames flickered deep in the pipe, and before Sabbath could register what was happening, the popping coalesced into one big explosion, shattering the plastic pipe under the sink. The shockwave knocked Sabbath back into the stall beneath the flickering light. She felt her head hit the metal door first, and then her back collided with the toilet bowl as she fell to the floor, unconscious.

Without the pipe's support, the sink crashed to the floor with a crackling groan as it broke free from the wall. The water supply hoses tore free from the sink altogether, swinging wildly as pressurized water gushed from their frayed ends and slowly flooded the room.

***Kara's POV***

Standing outside the bathroom door, she listened impatiently. After what seemed like forever, she heard the toilet flush, then the stall door swing open. _'Come on, come on…'_ she mentally coaxed. At last she heard the water turn on, and a grin spread across her face. Then came the soft popping, and finally the big bang she'd been waiting for. '_Yes!' _she hissed. She could feel herself smiling so much it almost hurt. She couldn't control her excitement. That couldn't have gone more perfectly. But just to make sure, she paused for a moment and listened for any movement in the bathroom…nothing but the hiss of water and some residual popping. _'Perfect! I knew it would work!'_ A giddy laugh bubbled up inside her, and she didn't try to stop it.

"Ms. Kyne," a deep voice said, interrupting her moment of celebration.

Kara looked up, surprised that anyone else was still in the building. Brother Blood, headmaster of the prestigious HIVE Academy, stalked down the hallway towards her. He was still in his teacher guise, but his voice was unmistakable. She immediately pulled herself together, bowing her head briefly in respect as she greeted him. "Good afternoon, Brother," she said.

"I was looking for you," he said. "I told your father I would give you a ride home this evening. I have some important papers for him to sign."

"Thank you, Brother," Kara replied. Usually her father had his assistant pick her up from school. This was definitely a change.

Just then, Kara noticed water beginning to seep out from under the girls' bathroom door and out into the hallway, slowly pooling around her shoes. She looked up with a sheepish grin to see Brother Blood eying her closely.

"What's this?" he asked her knowingly.

"Nothing…" she said. "Just giving a certain Titan exactly what she asked for: a bigger explosion."

Brother Blood arched a disapproving eyebrow.

"Don't worry," Kara added with confidence. "They'll never figure out it was me. There won't even be anything left by the time those idiots get around to investigating."

"Good girl," Brother Blood said with a proud smile, patting her on the shoulder. "Now come along, we don't want to keep your father waiting."

"Yes, Brother."


	30. Chapter 28: Awake

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 28

A/N: This is Chapter 28 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

P.S. So, near the end of this chapter I did a little research on the whole staying awake for a concussion thing, and it turns out it's a myth. However, for my purposes here I'm pretending it's not a myth. That part of the story wouldn't work otherwise. But you didn't come here for serious medical advice, so on with the show!

***Beast Boy's POV***

Beast Boy stood by the T-Car, waiting as patiently as he knew how for the rest of the Titans to get out of their clubs. It was hard to be patient, though, since he couldn't get comfortable. At first he tried leaning against the car, but found his legs grew tired quickly. He hopped up onto the hood and sat cross-legged for a while, but that wasn't right either. He reclined back against the windshield, but found himself starting to slide off altogether. He was lying flat on his back across the hood of the car, his hands folded behind his head, by the time Cyborg showed up.

"Ay yo, get your butt off my car!" Cyborg called, once he was close enough to assess the situation.

"Dude what took so long? Your car's really uncomfortable," Beast Boy said, raising up onto his elbows.

"That's cuz it's not made to be sat on! It's made to be ridden in, luxurious mile after mile."

"Guess that'd make sense," Beast Boy said, now sitting fully upright. "But you should make it comfy on the outside too. Especially since you hog the only keys…"

"Down, BB," Cyborg said, pointing to the ground. "Don't make me activate the security system."

"Fine," Beast Boy said, sliding off the hood. "I was gonna anyway; my butt was getting numb…"

"Where's the rest of the gang?" Cyborg asked, pulling the keys out of his pocket and using a remote on the keychain to unlock the doors.

"Dunno," Beast Boy said, hopping into the passenger's seat.

Cyborg arched a holographic eyebrow at Beast Boy's choice of seating.

"Well Robin's not here yet, is he," Beast Boy said in a tone that implied it wasn't a question. He'd move when he had to, but not until then. He didn't think it was fair that Robin always called shotgun.

Cyborg shrugged and slid into the driver's seat without further questioning the shape shifter. He started the car just enough to get the AC running, but left his window open while he waited for it to cool.

Beast Boy rolled his own window down as well and stared at the school, officially bored. Just when he was starting to count the number of bricks in the wall, he heard Cyborg call out, "Hey, where you been?"

Beast Boy perked up and turned to see who Cyborg was talking to, and felt a distinct sense of disappointment when he saw that it wasn't Jane.

Starfire and Robin walked across the nearly vacant parking lot, heat radiating off the blacktop making them look wavy. Star smiled and Robin waved, but before either of them could voice a reply, a black shiny car came around from the teachers' lot on the other side of the school, cutting in front of and narrowly missing them. It went by quickly, and the windows were tinted, but Beast Boy had just enough time to catch a glimpse of the driver and passenger through the windshield before it zoomed past, turned sharply onto the street and disappeared. _'Was that….Kara?' _he wondered. It sure looked like her, but the old dude driving was definitely not her dad. Maybe it wasn't her after all…

When the car was gone, Beast Boy saw that Robin's arm was still stretched out protectively in front of Starfire. The Boy Wonder continued to stare after the car even though Beast Boy could no longer pick it out in the flow of traffic.

"You guys alright?" Cyborg called. "That guy cut it close!"

"We're fine," Robin said, somewhat distractedly. Then, returning his full attention to Cyborg, he added, "Pop the trunk."

Cyborg did as he was told, allowing Robin and Starfire to drop off their bags in the trunk. Robin paused for a moment when he saw Beast Boy sitting in the front seat, but didn't argue the fact. He instead opened the back door for Starfire and followed her into the backseat.

"Where's Jane?" Robin asked, closing the door behind him.

"Still in the bathroom, I guess. Beast Boy said she was right behind him, though."

"Perhaps I should go inquire as to whether she needs the assistance," Starfire said, saving the three boys from what was sure to become an awkward conversation.

"Good idea," Robin said.

Starfire opened the door on her side and stepped out of the car.

"We'll wait here," Cyborg called out casually before turning the radio on, letting loud pop music echo off the surrounding brick and pavement.

***Sabbath's POV***

Her back was tingly and numb, her head throbbed, and the majority of her body was soaking wet.

Sabbath groaned, gently easing her head upright. She reached one hand up and felt a large bump at the back of her head, the source of the throbbing. Sharp, fresh bursts of pain shot through her head at her touch, so she lowered her hand back to her side. Instead of hitting the floor, however, her palm hit water. Confused, Sabbath opened her eyes at last to take in her surroundings.

She was sitting on the floor of a bathroom stall, leaning back against what must have been a toilet. An overhead fluorescent light flickered obnoxiously, adding to the pain in her head. Grimacing, Sabbath turned her gaze down from the ceiling, ignoring the dizzy sensation that threatened the corners of her vision with little black spots as she did so. She turned her attention to the floor beneath her. She was sitting in about a half-inch of water. Her fake glasses lay miraculously undamaged on the floor beside her, and her bag was covering the drain in the floor next to them. Through the open door of her stall Sabbath could also see that water was still gushing from two tubes coming out of the wall in front of her where the sink used to be, spraying her and the floor with icy water. The sink now rested on the floor in pieces, surrounded by fragments of tan plastic that used to be its drainpipe.

The water around her had by now completely soaked through her jeans, and her lower half felt icy and numb. "Gotta make the water stop…" she mumbled. Reaching up with a shaky hand, she attempted to pull all of the water away from her body and divert its flow somewhere else. A weak, flickering blue glow emanated from her outstretched hand, but before she could summon the power necessary to do anything more her vision blurred, and the throbbing in her head screamed at her to stop. With a small groan of pain, Sabbath let her hand fall back to her side once again in defeat. She was so tired, and everything that she could feel seemed to hurt. She wanted was about to lean back against the stall wall and rest her eyes, if only to try and ease the pain in her head, when the bathroom door swung open.

"Friend Jane?" a familiar voice called out.

Sabbath couldn't find the strength to stand up, but turned her head to watch the shadow of whoever had just walked in slowly approach her. At last the girl came into view, a scared and worried expression on her face. The girl let out a gasp, and the hand covering her mouth did nothing to suppress it. Her long, blond hair fell in impossible perfection around her face in spite of the water spraying around the room, and it took Sabbath longer than it should have to recognize her, but at last she did.

"Starfire..?" she said, her voice cracking slightly. She cleared her throat and was about to try again when she was cut off.

Starfire had her communicator firmly clutched in one hand. She held down all the buttons on the side as she said, "Friends, come quickly! Something has happened!" She then returned the communicator to her skirt pocket and knelt down in front of Sabbath to more closely inspect her for injuries.

The light overhead must have chosen that moment to finally die, as Sabbath's vision started to fade. She blinked a few times, trying to get her eyes to adjust but the light grew dimmer and dimmer until she couldn't see at all.

"ane…Jane, you need to wake up. Jane…."

Sabbath grimaced. Someone was speaking a lot louder than they should have been, and uncomfortably close to her face. The volume made her head hurt worse, but the urgency in their tone made her open her eyes.

"Jane, you can't fall asleep," a dark-haired boy was saying, mere inches form her face. "You could have a concussion, you need to stay awake. Jane? Can you hear me? J-"

"Ssshhh…" Sabbath muttered, scrunching her eyes shut again when she realized how bright the room was. She reached a cold, wet hand to her forehead in an attempt to ease the relentless pounding behind her eyes. "I can hear," she added quietly. The wetness made her open her eyes again in surprise, and it took her a minute to remember all of what had happened and why she was soaked. Squinting against the glaring light, Sabbath found herself still sitting on the floor of a flooded bathroom stall, only now she was surrounded by the rest of the Titans.

"We need to get you out of here," Robin added. His voice was softer, but just as urgent.

Her eyes slowly adjusted to the light, and after a moment she found she was able to open them without the pain in her head doubling. Her brain felt fuzzy, but at last something dawned on her. "Hey," she said. "This is the girls' room. You're not supposed to be here…"

"Come on," Robin said quietly. "Raven says you should be able to walk, so let's get you out of here."

Sabbath wondered if that was true. She saw the cloaked girl standing with Cyborg by the sinks studying the remains of the shattered one, but her legs felt cold and tingly, as if they'd fallen asleep. She shot an uncertain gaze at the Boy Wonder, but decided to try anyway (what other choice did she really have?). Reaching out for something to balance herself, she brought her legs in close to her body and pulled herself up, holding onto the toilet paper dispenser and Robin's outstretched hand until she felt her legs would do their job.

Stepping around the Boy Wonder, Sabbath walked out of the stall at last and surveyed the damage around her. Her bag was soaked, the books inside it most likely ruined. The broken sink was a lost cause. Cyborg was taking water samples and putting them in clear vials, while Raven appeared to be trying to piece together the shattered drain pipe. Someone had shut off the two water supply pipes where the sink had been, but there was still a lot of water covering the floor. Sabbath's sneakers sloshed through it, and her heavy, water-logged clothes seemed to weigh her down, making walking even harder.

"I didn't…" Sabbath started to say, suddenly feeling the need to defend herself.

"It's ok," Robin said. "We'll figure out what caused this, but in the meantime Beast Boy and Starfire are going to take you back to the Tower."

It was only then that Sabbath noticed the two teens standing by the door. Starfire looked like she was trying to stay out of the way, but Beast Boy looked just plain worried (and a little embarrassed at being in the girls' bathroom). Sabbath tried to offer them a reassuring smile as she said, "It's ok…I'm ok. I think. Just tired. After a quick power nap I'll be good as new." Then mentally she added _'Or maybe a few days of sleep and a truck load of ibuprofen…'_

"No," Robin said from somewhere behind her. "It's very important that you stay awake for at least the next 12 hours. It's very likely you have a concussion, and if you sleep now you might never wake up." His tone was serious and left no room for argument. But before anyone could even try, Sabbath found herself being ushered out of the bathroom by two equally concerned teens.

"Worry not, friend," Starfire said. "We shall not allow you to go into the coma."

"Yeah," Beast Boy said. His voice said he was trying to lighten the mood, but his eyes said he was trying not to freak out. "We can have a Wicked Scary Marathon; even Raven's afraid of those!"

Sabbath was touched by the concern of her friends, but at the same time she couldn't help but wonder; if she hadn't caused the explosion in the bathroom, then who had?

By the time night fell, the pain in Sabbath's head hadn't lessened much, and she was more tired than ever, yet both Starfire and Beast Boy continued to do everything in their power to keep her awake.

"These movies are terrifying, Beast Boy," she tried to assure the shape shifter. "But I don't think I'll die if you guys just let me sleep for an hour."

"Nu-uhn, Robin's orders," Beast Boy replied.

Starfire hovered over from the kitchen then with a steaming mug in her hands. "Here," she said, offering it to Sabbath. "Drink this, it will help."

"Oh God, Star, no, what is it?" Sabbath recoiled from the mug, shrinking as far back into the couch as she could, remembering the last time she'd ingested something offered by the alien girl.

"Coffee," the girl replied with a frown. "Is it not to your liking? I followed the instructions on the bag very carefully."

Sabbath shot the mug a suspicious glance, but it really did appear to be just regular coffee. She took the mug and tried a sip of it. Aside from being hot and a little heavy on the sugar, it was fine. Sabbath smiled and thanked the alien girl. She took another sip to show that she meant it before setting the mug down on the table in front of her. It really was good, but the warmth was starting to lull her to sleep. Sabbath rubbed her eyes for what felt like the hundredth time, and Beast Boy reached for the remote to put on yet another horror movie.

Normally Sabbath had nothing against horror films, but it was late. The room was completely dark now except for the flickering glow of the big-screen television, and Robin, Cyborg, and Raven had already gone to bed. Sabbath would've been in bed herself long ago, and couldn't remember the last time she'd stayed up all night long. She yawned and stretched, leaning on the arm of the couch (as close as the others would let her get to lying down) and propped her head up in her hand. Beast Boy sat on her other side, and Starfire sat on the other side of him. She'd been jumpy during the first two movies, but by the third she seemed to have become immune, and now, Sabbath noticed, the alien girl had actually drifted off to sleep, unaffected by the shrill screams and dramatic music coming from the TV's impressive sound system.

"Looks like Starfire fell asleep," Sabbath said quietly.

Beast Boy looked to his right and saw that, sure enough, the Tamaranian had fallen asleep sitting up. He reached out to wake her up, but Sabbath stopped him.

"It's ok," Sabbath said, muffling another yawn. "Let her sleep. There's no reason you guys have to suffer along with me."

Beast Boy looked tired, but seemed determined not to admit it. The two watched the rest of the movie in silence. The credits rolled, and Beast Boy picked up the remote from the coffee table, where it had sat next to Sabbath's now cold mug of coffee. He flipped through a menu of movie channels, trying to decide what to put on next. "That covers all the Wicked Scary Movies in the series," Beast Boy said, keeping his eyes on the screen. "What do you wanna watch next?"

Sabbath must not have answered quickly enough, because the next thing she knew his hand was on her shoulder, gently shaking her. "Jane?"

Sabbath jumped. "I'm awake!" she said, startled by his sudden touch. Beast Boy jumped at her response and withdrew his hand. Her eyes must've slipped shut for a second without her noticing. She yawned again and stretched her stiff shoulders. At last she answered his question, "I don't care, you pick."

The green boy stared at her with a frown, his attention no longer on the TV. "You don't look too comfortable," he commented.

"I'm not," Sabbath replied, somewhat irritably. The arm of the couch was too short, so she had to lean over at a weird angle in order to rest on it. Plus, in spite of Raven's healing, Sabbath's back was still a little sore.

After another pause, Beast Boy shifted in his seat. Pulled a throw pillow into his lap and stretched his arm across the back of the couch between Sabbath and himself. "Here," he said.

Sabbath looked up, confused at first by the green boy's gesture. She couldn't be sure in the dim light of the TV, but she thought his face was tinted with a dark blush. At last she connected the dots. "Aren't you worried I'll fall asleep?" she asked. "There's still two more hours left." She couldn't believe he was actually going to let her lay down.

"Do you trust me?" Beast Boy asked.

Sabbath paused, taken aback by the seriousness in his tone. She thought about it for a minute and realized that yes, of course she trusted him. She knew he'd watch out for her. But she couldn't think of any way to say so that didn't sound incredibly weird. She was embarrassed enough laying down in his lap. So instead she gave a small nod before leaning towards the shape shifter. She paused for a moment, giving him a chance to stop her, tell her she was wrong, that he was just kidding, but none of that happened. Instead, she laid down, resting her head on the pillow in the green boy's lap and feeling her own face heat up in a blush. Luckily, she was facing the TV, so if she were blushing at least Beast Boy wouldn't see it.

Beast boy let his arm drop from the back of the couch and rested his hand gently on Sabbath's shoulder. The TV's menu had closed out automatically by now, and was back on the channel they'd been on before, only now it was just infomercials. "Count with me," he said after a minute. "That way we'll both stay awake."

Sabbath felt a warming in her chest that she couldn't identify. Her heart skipped a beat.

"One…" he began softly, pausing for Sabbath's response.

"Two…" she continued.

"Three…"

"Four…"

"Five…

And they continued that way until the first light of morning touched the horizon.


	31. Chapter 29: Checkmate

The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 29

A/N: This is Chapter 29 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

* * *

><p>***Sabbath's POV***<p>

"You can go in now," the secretary wheezed, pointing in the direction of the door to the principal's office.

"Thanks…" Sabbath replied, not knowing what else to say. There was a lump in her throat that refused to budge, and she couldn't stop fidgeting with the strap of her bag. She'd been called into many a principal's office over the years, but somehow it never got any easier. Nothing good ever came from a discussion with the principal.

The fake wooden door was open a crack, but Sabbath couldn't see much beyond it. _'Get a grip,'_ she ordered herself. _'What's the worst he can do? Call your parents?'_ She cracked a brief smile at her own sad joke. _'You're not even a student here, technically. There's literally nothing he can do to you. Just get it over with!' _A burst of confidence came with that last thought, and she pushed her way into the office.

"Close the door behind you," the principal said. He was digging through a filing cabinet, so his back was facing her, but she had a feeling he could somehow still see her.

Directly across from the door she'd just come through was a window and some large potted plants, but no natural light seemed to be able to reach the far, right-hand corner where the principal's desk was. The walls were white, and the carpet a light beige. Two boring, modern looking chairs faced his desk. They looked to Sabbath as though they belonged in some kind of waiting room. There were some small bookshelves behind the principal's desk, along with the filing cabinet he was still looking through. The shelves were the same medium fake-wood tone as his desk, and the filing cabinet was off-white metal. Overall, the room should have been bright, but somehow it remained dull and dark. Even the overhead fluorescents and desktop lamp did nothing to ease the gloom.

'_Closing the door, that's never a good sign. This isn't going to be quick…'_ Sabbath thought. At first she'd figured this was about her unexcused absence from school the day before. After staying up all night hoping she didn't have a concussion, she'd crashed when it was finally safe to do so. She, Beast Boy, and Starfire had spent the entire day getting caught up on much needed sleep. Now, it was Friday, and she couldn't think of a good enough excuse to stay out of school for two days in a row, so here she was. Although she figured that even if she had stayed out one more day, the principal would have just summoned her to his office when she came back on Monday.

Sabbath eased the door shut behind her, any former sense of courage now gone. The door closed with a deafening click that sounded to Sabbath more like the slamming of prison cell bars.

At last, the principal turned around, slamming the cabinet drawer behind him. He was dressed casually for a principal. Unlike most she'd seen, this one wasn't wearing a suit. Instead he wore a simple button-up shirt tucked into formal pants. His tie was patterned, but the colors were all so similar it was hard to tell. His hair was short, and in spite of his relatively young age (Sabbath estimated he was probably in his late thirties), his hairline was clearly receding. He held a large manila file in his hands, though from where Sabbath stood she couldn't read the title written on its tab. "Take a seat, Ms. Lucy," he said, noticing her still standing somewhat awkwardly by the door.

Sabbath did as she was told and approached one of the firm, canvas-upholstered chairs, dropping her bag silently to her feet. Something in the man's tone told her he was angry.

"Or do you prefer 'Jane'?" he asked somewhat sarcastically as he sat down, dropping the files to his desk where they landed with a loud _*thwack!* _"Or maybe 'Sabbath'?"

Sabbath nearly choked.

"Look," the principal continued irritably. "I'm not the school counselor; I don't care what you call yourself. I don't care that you and your friends are here on some top secret mission from the mayor. I don't even care that you and the rest of them are high school dropouts. I don't exactly get commission here."

Sabbath didn't know what to say. She stared, wide-eyed, at the man before her, desperately trying to make sense of what he was saying.

Noting her clueless expression, the principal said, "Hellingsworth isn't exactly a name you hear every day. You attended this school at the end of last year, isn't that right?" He flipped open the top file and turned it to face her, revealing a photo of Sabbath and some personal information from when she'd lived with the Millers.

"Uh," Sabbath still couldn't form any kind of response. There was no denying what he was saying, so she didn't try. Instead she kept her eyes on the file open before her. She remembered the day that photo had been taken, back when the Millers had first moved to Jump City. They'd brought her to this very office and had her registered as a student. To think that that was only a couple months ago.

"Look, my point is, your life is your business," the principal said. "Until it becomes my business. Which was approximately thirty minutes ago."

Sabbath looked up questioningly from her file to meet the principal's gaze.

"I just got off the phone with a very unhappy parent," the principal continued. "And for some reason, when parents are unhappy, they make it their job to make me unhappy."

Sabbath couldn't see how this was connected to her in any way. She didn't have any angry parents to call in on her behalf, nor had she angered anyone else's parents. At last she managed to ask, "But…what does that have to do with me?"

"I think you already know. The father of one of our top students just called to tell me his daughter was very distraught over a little incident that happened yesterday after school. Apparently you and his daughter got into a bit of a disagreement that ended in the destruction of school property."

Sabbath started to connect the dots. _'But there's no way this could be about…she wasn't even there! Unless she was the one who…no that couldn't be it…'_

"Ms. Kyne is one of the best students we have here. She has quite a bright future ahead of her, not to mention her father has made regular, generous donation to keep this school afloat in these hard times. So you can see why it would be troubling to me to learn of her getting involved in something like this."

The gears in Sabbath's mind suddenly clicked. Confusion quickly became anger. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "That's ridiculous!" she finally said. "Kara and I never fought! I was alone in that bathroom when the sink exploded!"

"Well," the principal said, cutting her off. "Rather than talk about her behind her back, I think it's only right to let Kara come in here and tell her side of the story. Ms. Kyne, you can come in now," the principal called.

The door to his office opened slowly, and a meek tear-streaked Kara stepped into his office. "Uh, hi, Mr. Phillip, sir. I didn't want to make a big deal out of this or anything…"

"Of course not, Kara," the principal, Mr. Phillip said in a soft, delicate tone.

'_Like Hell you didn't, you lying, manipulative-'_

"It's just," Kara continued. "I didn't feel right not saying anything. I realize a lot of damage was done, though I'm not really sure how…" she paused, shooting Sabbath a cautious look. "I just wanted to set the record straight."

"Have a seat, dear, and tell us what happened," the principal said.

Kara smiled at the principal's warm, understanding tone of voice, and sat down gently in the chair next to Sabbath. Sabbath glared daggers at the side of the other girl's head, but if she noticed she pretended not to.

"Well, Wednesday after school was the first meeting of the new Chemistry Club," Kara began, keeping her eyes on the principal. "Lucy was there, and we'd talked a little in class before, and I thought we were getting to be friends. There aren't a lot of girls in science clubs, so we had that in common. She told me she was new here, so I wanted to make her feel welcome. We were lab partners for the experiment, but she seemed kind of upset about something.

"Now, at this point I think I should confess something. My dad works for the mayor, and sometimes brings work home with him. I came across a file he'd left open on the table one night and kind of glanced through it. That was how I found out the Teen Titans were on an undercover mission here at the school. And I've always been a fan of the Titans, so I was really excited to hear they'd be coming to my school. I recognized Lucy as Jane instantly, but didn't know how to introduce myself.

"Anyway, after Wednesday's lab, I tried to catch up with Jane but she was gone before I had a chance. I stopped by the bathroom on my way out and ran into her there. She was washing her hands at the far sink, and didn't look up when I walked in. She seemed really upset and distracted. I tried to ask her what was wrong and she just told me to get out and leave her alone. I told her I recognized her as a member of the Teen Titans, and that I was a fan of the Titans, and tried to ask if there was anything I could do to help her, but before I could say anything else she got really mad at me. She started yelling…then the water started acting funny. It was like someone turned up the water pressure…then the water just…exploded right through the pipe. I admit I was scared, and I took off before I could even check if she was ok.

"I felt really bad about the whole thing all night. I couldn't sleep. Yesterday my dad asked me what was wrong, and I couldn't lie to him." At last, Kara turned her attention from the principal to Sabbath, who was by now barely containing her rage. "I didn't mean to upset you," Kara said. Sabbath would have thought the apology was genuine, and the remorse in her eyes sincere, if she didn't know better. "I'm sorry for whatever it was that I did or said," Kara continued. "And I promise I won't tell anyone that you and the other Titans are here, I just hope that maybe we can be friends?"

Sabbath's brain was on overload, her blood boiling in her veins and her heart pounding in her ears and throat. She wanted to scream, but couldn't make a sound. She wanted to punch Kara right in her lying face, and the principal in his stupid, gullible face, but couldn't unclench her fingers from where they dug into the arms of her chair. Her teeth were clenching so tightly that it caused her jaw to ache.

"Well?" the principal said to Sabbath after a moment of tense silence. "Do you have anything you'd like to say to Kara?"

"…As a matter of fact…I do," Sabbath said, finding her voice at last. It wavered a bit from pent up rage, but still she continued on. "First of all, I was alone in that bathroom aside from whoever came in and set the bomb. So how would you know what went down in there, _Kara_, unless you were that someone? _Second,_ to even imply that I'm so out of control as to cause an explosion like that is absolutely insulting. And _lastly, _since when in the hell do you have anything but pure disdain for the Titans?! You and your father both-"

Sabbath was cut off just then by the loud trill of the bell, signifying the end of first period. Her mind and temper were both still racing, her heart beating wildly, but somehow she'd once again lost her ability to speak. She was too mad to form words, never mind sentences. She just sat there, muscles tense, in the heavy silence that followed the bell.

"Please continue," the principal said. "I can write the two of you a pass for your next classes. It's important we get this resolved here and now."

"Forget it," Sabbath grumbled, crossing her arms and slouching back into her seat. She looked away from Kara and the principal, refusing to say anything more. She was beyond done with the entire situation, and just wanted out.

When it became clear to the principal that Sabbath wasn't going to continue her side of the story, he finally agreed to let the girls go. He wrote them hall passes, and left them with hollow threats to not cause any more trouble, and that was that. Sabbath stormed out into the hallway, which now only had a few students trickling away to their classes at the last minute.

"Lucy, wait up," Kara called after her.

Sabbath stopped in her tracks, out of shock more than anything else. _'Does this girl have a death wish?'_

"Lucy, Jane, listen," Kara said, false sincerity oozing from every word. "I'm sorry about what happened. I just wanted everything out in the open so we could be friends."

Sabbath stared at the girl for a moment, trying to decide how to respond, before leaning in closely to the other girl so as not to be overheard by passersby. "I don't know what you're playing at here," she whispered, "but I know now that it was you who rigged that bomb. You're lying to everyone. You're probably even in league with the HIVE! Don't think we're done here, or that I won't bring your true colors to light."

"Well…" Kara said, seemingly taken aback by Sabbath's coarseness. Then, a smug smile spread across her face and her eyes narrowed in a devious expression of triumph as she whispered back, "Good luck proving it. And get your facts straight, freak. It wasn't a bomb. It was…_chemistry."_ Kara's bright green eyes glittered with humor as if she'd just made a joke at Sabbath's expense. Then in a more audible, cheerful voice she added, "See you later, Lucy!" With that, Kara turned around waving amicably as she headed down the hall and around the corner, disappearing from view.

Sabbath just stood there, frozen in rage. She was one of the only students left in the halls now. The late bell rang, yet she didn't move. She just stood there, staring straight ahead, her mind spinning.

A familiar face came down the hall where Kara had just gone, though Sabbath barely recognized him in her current mental state. "Hey Jane, where're you headed? Don't you have class now?" he asked, innocent curiosity mixing with his usual playful puppy demeanor.

Sabbath heard the words, but wasn't listening. Her anger was churning up her powers, energy flashing through her body like raw electricity. She dropped her bag to the floor, turned her back to Beast Boy, and headed toward the main entrance of the school. Noticing the green hall pass from the principal still gripped tightly in her hand, and suddenly couldn't stand holding it anymore. She ripped it in half over and over again as she walked, then scattered the confetti behind her when she reached the double doors leading out of the school. She stood there a moment, staring at them.

Beast Boy jogged to catch up with her. "Hey, where are you going?" he asked, sounding concerned.

"Leaving early," Sabbath said flatly. "Tell Robin I went home sick." And with that, she reached out in front of her and threw the doors open wide with a bang.

***Beast Boy's POV***

Beast Boy watched in stunned confusion as Jane stormed out of the building. She ran down the front steps of the school, and when she reached the sidewalk, she ripped off her windbreaker, exposing her large, black wings to the early morning sunlight. They snapped out to their full span, and she took off straight up in the air. By the time the dust cleared, she was gone, leaving a confused Beast Boy standing in a circle of green shreds, staring up at the sky until the massive double doors banged shut, cutting off his view of the outside world.


End file.
